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MODEL WOMEN, 



MODEL WOMEN 



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1/ 

WILLIAM ANDERSON, 

AUTHOR OF "SELF-MADE MEN," "KINGS OF SOCIETY," ETC., ETC. 



" Noble examples excite us to noble deeds." — Seneca. 

" She was feminine only by her sex — in mind she was superior to men." 

—Gregory Nazianzen. 

"The woman's cause is man's : they rise or sink 
Together, dwarfed or godlike, bond or free."— Tennyson. 




HODDEE & STOUGHTON, 

27, PATERNOSTER ROW. 

MDCCCLXX. 



^ 



jt 







TO YOUNG WOMEN. 



My dear Friends, 

This volume is dedicated to yon, because I 
believe in the principles it enunciates, and hope that 
many of your sex may get them lodged in their 
minds ; and the conclusions to which they lead car- 
ried out in their lives. While feeling a warm interest 
in your honour, I have endeavoured to avoid all 
indiscriminate eulogiums on the eminent women here 
portrayed. The object of biography is to teach by 
example ; and although perfection is claimed for none 
of the models here presented, yet each is worthy of 
being enshrined in your hearts. 

Whilst I should be sorry to see woman exchanging 
her home for the market-place, and her nursery for 
the arena, I am anxious that she should not be 
robbed of some of the purest joys of life ; and that 
society, which so much needs her help, should not be 
defrauded of her service. The housewife is woman's 
proudest name. Honourable is her distaff, and 
equally honourable her careful management and 



VI DEDICATION. 

thrift. But while discharging these duties with pro- 
priety — while taking nothing from her family — she 
ought to give fair attention to the many grievous 
wrongs which at present shackle her independence 
and limit her usefulness. Woman is something more 
than a mere housekeeper or nurse. Let her be trained 
as a thinking being. By aiming at being only do- 
mestic, she will cease to be truly domestic. 

In my selection of examples, I have necessarily 
been under the control of circumstances. Not a few 
women, eminent in many respects, have been excluded 
from this collection, because, in consequence of some 
sad defects, they could not be held up as models of 
true womanhood. Several fairly entitled to places 
among " Model Women " would have been here, but, 
happily, they are still living ; and for various reasons 
I determined to confine myself to the dead. My in- 
tention has been to include only a few of the actors 
and thinkers who have attained extensive celebrity ; 
and the difficulty of fixing upon these I have found 
so great, that I am prepared to have the judiciousness 
of my choice frequently questioned. But I trust a 
sufficient number of lives are here recorded to kindle 
in your breasts aspirations after those excellences 
which adorn human existence. 

The end of writing memoirs should be the exhibi- 
tion of truth in all its loveliness, and virtue with all 



DEDICATION. Vll 

her -charms. This object I have not lost sight of for 
one moment in writing these pages ; but directly or 
indirectly have framed every sentence in accordance 
with it. 

Imperfections you will doubtless detect in this 
volume ; of some I am sufficiently aware ; but am less 
anxious to obtain your applause, or to bespeak your 
candour, than to win your sympathy in my subject ; 
and I feel confident that whether you acquiesce in 
few or many of my views, you will at least honour 
the motive which prompted me to make them 
known. 

I am, 

Tours very cordially,, 

WILLIAM ANDERSON". 

Cambridge Cottage, Merton, S.W., 
September, 1870. 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. 

TRUE WOMANHOOD. 

Female education. —Physical training. — Intellectual develop- 
ment. — Moral discipline. — Spiritual culture. — Educa- 
tion complete Page 1 

CHAPTER II. 

PECULIARITIES OF FEMALE CHARACTER. 

Woman in relation to man. — Corporeal organization. — 
Patient endurance. — Caution. — Sympathy. — Love of 
approbation. — Tenacity of purpose. — Modesty. — Dis- 
cernment of character. — Piety . . . Page 29 

CHAPTER III. 

DOMESTIC WOMEN. 

Section I.— Susanna Wesley. 

Woman's sphere. — Biography. — A noble wife. — A good 
mother. — Home education. — Relation to Methodism. — 
Character of Mrs. Wesley .... Page 55 

Section II. — Eliza Hessel. 

Woman's mission. — Biography. — A right purpose in life. — 
An excellent daughter. — A loving sister. — Household 
management. — Character of Miss Hessel . Page 72 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEE IY. 

PHILANTHROPIC WOMEN. 

Section I.— Elizabeth Fry. 

Woman's work. — Biography. — Early schemes of usefulness. 
— The prisoner's friend. — Family bereavements. — 
Relative duties. — Character of Mrs. Fry . Page 88 

Section II, — Amelia "Wilhelmina Sieveking. 

Woman's rights. — Biography. — Amateur teaching. — Services 
in the hospital. — Protestant sisterhoods. — Spinsters 
respectable, happy, and useful. — Character of Miss 
Sieveking Page 104 

CHAPTEE Y. 

LITERARY WOMEN. 

Section I. — Hannah More. 

Literature. — Biography. — Successful authorship. — Character 

of Mrs. More Page 122 

Section II. — Anne Grant. 

Letter- writers. — Biography. — Literary career. — Character of 
Mrs. Grant Page 135 

Section III. — Anne Louisa Stael. 

Versatility of genius. — Biography. — Analysis of writings. — 

Character of Mad. de Stael .... Page 148 

Section IY. — Carolina, Baroness Nairne. 

What is poetry. — Biography. — Extracts and criticisms. — 

Character of Baroness Nairne . . . Page 162 

Section Y. — Felicia Dorothea Hemans. 

Lyric poetry. — Biography. — Review of poems. — Character 
of Mrs. Hemans Page 175 



CONTENTS. XI 

Section VI. — Elizabeth Baeeett Browning. 

Epic poetry. — Biography. — Place as a poetess. — Character 

of Mrs. Browning ... . Page 188 

Section VII. — Chaelotte Nicholls. [Cueeee Bell.] 

Works of fiction. — Biography. — Merits as a novelist. — 
Character of Mrs. Nicholls .... Page 200 



CHAPTEE VI. 
SCIENTIFIC WOMEN. 

Section I.— Caroline Luceetia Heeschel. 

Astronomy. — Biography. — Astronomical discoveries. — Works 

on astronomy. — Character of Miss Herschel . Page 216 

Section II. — Jane Anne Tayloe. [Janet Tayloe.] 

Navigation. — Biography. — ■ Publications on navigation. — 
Nautical and mathematical academy. — Character of 
Mrs. Taylor Page 228 

CHAPTEE VII. 

HOLY WOMEN. 

Section I. — Selina, Countess oe Huntingdon. 

The gospel not a thing of sex. — Biography. — Conversion.— 
The higher Christian life. — Chaplains. — Founder of a 
religious community. — Character of the Countess of 
Huntingdon Page 241 

Section II. — Elizabeth, Duchess op Goedon. 

Religion in high life. — Biography. — Regeneration. — Deepen- 
ing of the Lord's work. — Open-air services. — Good 
■works. — Character of the Duchess of Gordon , Page 257 



Xll CONTENTS. 

Section III. — Mary Jane Graham. 

Piety and circumstance. — Biography.— The great change. — 
Theological attainments. — Practical religion. — Progress 
and power. — Character of Miss Graham . Page 273 

Section IY. — Fidelia Fiske. 

Christianity and human nature. — Biography. — Second and 
better birth. — Juvenile habit of doing good. — Mission- 
ary life.— Showers of blessing. — Character of Miss 
Fiske Page 289 



CHAPTER VIII. 

FORMATION OF FEMALE CHARACTER. 

Value and influence of character.— Original constitution. — 
Family circle. — Society. — Impartative and receptive 
elements.— -Twofold operation of the mind . Page 308 

CHAPTER IX. 

NATURAL EQUALITY OF THE SEXES. 

Difference and similarity. — Political equality. — Social 
equality. — Intellectual equality. — Moral equality. — 
Religious equality Page 329 



MODEL WOMEN. 

CHAPTER I. 



1 A perfect woman, nobly planned, 
To warn, to comfort, and command ; 
And yet a spirit still and bright, 
With something of an angel light." 

William Wordsworth. 



FEMALE EDUCATION. 
The great question of the day is education. Daugh- 
ters, as well as sons, are born with faculties capable 
of improvement ; and the claims of the former to as 
good an education as the latter are beyond dispute. 
Indeed, some are of opinion that if either of the sexes 
ought to have a superior education, that boon is the 
birthright of females. Certainly, women have as im- 
portant duties to perform as men, and therefore their 
discipline ought at least to be as strict. 

In the more usual sense, education is the art of 
drawing out, or developing, every part of your many- 
sided nature. Its object, and when rightly conducted, 
its result, is to make a perfect creature. Young 
women are too often allowed to consider that edu- 



2 MODEL WOMEN. 

cation is the work of girlhood. Strictly speaking, it 
covers the whole area of life. A great living poet 
trnly says — 

" Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, 
Is our being's end or way ; 
But to live that each to-morrow 
Finds us farther than to-day." 

We often hear what a glorious thing it is to be a 
man. With Daniel De Foe, and other great men, we 
think it as glorious a thing to be a woman. "A woman, 
well bred and well taught, furnished with the addi- 
tional accomplishments of knowledge and behaviour, 
is a creature without comparison." You are capable 
of being moulded into the noblest types of woman- 
hood. There is no limit to your progress, no eleva- 
tion which you may not pass ; your present attain- 
ments are not the measure of your capabilities. 

This book would be radically defective, and would 
greatly fail in its purpose, did we not attempt to show 
what woman can be, and what therefore she ought to 
strive after. The best definition we can give of true 
womanhood is, that it consists in having all the facul- 
ties, physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual, exist- 
ing in a healthy and vigorous condition, so as to be able 
to perform, in an efficient manner, all the functions 
for which they are destined. Our aim is bold, broad, 
truthful delineation. We would not lead you to indulge 
in baseless visions of future eminence ; yet your nature 
is such, that, did you act worthy of it, you might, with 
the help of God, become more than we are able to 
describe. The proudest and fairest ideal grows out 
of the real, and the loftiest tree must have its roots in 
the ground. 



TRUE WOMANHOOD. d 

PHYSICAL TRAINING. 

In education, as hitherto conducted, the physical 
powers have not had their due share of attention. 
Anatomy, physiology, and chemistry clearly teach that 
the general principles which are true of the vital 
processes in the lower animals are equally true of the 
vital processes in human beings. But this has not 
yet become a part of the living faith of the world. 
Hundreds and thousands, even among the upper 
classes, are as ignorant of the wonders and mysteries 
of the human frame as if God had committed the 
great practical solecism of making them incapable 
of self-knowledge. The earth is full of wholesome 
nourishment, the atmosphere is carefully mixed by a 
Divine hand, to suit the wants of humanity. Spring, 
summer, autumn, and winter are each beautiful. The 
oak is strong, and the rose is lovely ; the domestic 
animals are full of vigour; but the young maiden 
drops off, smitten by consumption, scrofula, or rapid 
failure of the vital power. Happily, the laws of health 
are beginning to attract attention, and we are coming 
to the conclusion that this great blessing might be 
much more common. 

The principal components of the body will naturally 
indicate and classify the topics for discussion in deal- 
ing with the subject of physical education. The body 
may be roughly described as an organisation of bones 
and muscles, permeated by blood, covered with skin, 
and containing a breathing and digestive apparatus. 

The chief process by which life is maintained, and 
health and strength developed, is the receiving of food. 
That over-feeding and under-feeding are both bad, 

b 2 



4 MODEL WOMEN. 

is a trnisin. Of the two, however, the latter is the 
worse. Not only are there a priori reasons for trust- 
ing the appetites, but there is no other guidance 
worthy of the name. Instead of measuring your food 
by an artificial standard, eat your fill. Have less 
faith in human opinion, and more confidence in nature. 
The current idea is, that diet should not only be re- 
stricted, but comparatively low; but the verdict of 
leading physicians and distinguished physiologists is 
exactly the opposite. The grounds for this conclusion 
are obvious. Compare different kinds of people, or the 
same people when differently fed, and you will find 
overwhelming evidence that the degree of energy 
essentially depends upon the nutritiveness of the food. 
Between the ill fed African and the well fed European 
there is a contrast which no one can fail to notice. 
Moreover, it is a fact, established by numerous ex- 
periments, that there is scarcely one article of diet 
which supplies all the elements necessary for carrying 
on the vital processes ; and hence, in order to good 
bodily training, mixture and variety are highly im- 
portant. The proper beverage for the physical con- 
stitution has been warmly discussed of late, and many 
have, much to their own advantage, and that of society 
at large, pronounced in favour of water ; and although 
it may not be easy to refute the argument for the 
moderate use of stimulating liquors, produced from 
the fruits of the earth by the process of fermentation, 
in the earlier stages of life water is undoubtedly 
the best drink at meals for the purpose of quench- 
ing thirst. 

A good supply of pure air is intimately connected 
with bodil vigour. There are, in every country, 



TRUE WOMANHOOD. O 

whole districts, of larger or smaller extent, in which 
the air is either permanently or periodically noxious ; 
its bad qualities arising generally from the miasma of 
fens, or the mud banks and mud deposits of rivers. 
In all our towns, large or small, there are to be found 
narrow streets, dark passages, small courts, and back 
yards, where the atmosphere is always loaded with 
impurities, in consequence of imperfect drainage, the 
accumulation of filth, and the position of the build- 
ings. In such places, the inhabitants are, for the 
most part, a feeble and sickly race. Even when 
healthy, it is absolutely certain that the respiratory 
organs should not always breathe the same atmo- 
sphere. The unwholesome rooms in which children 
are penned up, the close apartments where many 
women are doomed to labour, and the smoke, chim- 
neys, and long rows of houses that hem in the path of 
others, are producing sad havoc among the softer sex. 
If you would have health, strength, and longevity, 
you must now and then refresh your lungs, by taking 
a stroll on a common, a walk by the sea-side, or 
spending a day amid the ranges of the great hills 
with their wild peaks and morning mists. The 
breathing of fresh air is, we maintain, an essential 
part of physical culture. 

Cleanliness has a most important and salutary 
influence on your material nature. In the skin of a 
person of average size there are tubes connected with 
the pores, measuring, if put end to end, twenty-eight 
miles. These ought always to be kept open. Checked 
perspiration is direct injury to the membranes of the 
air passages, and frequently to the alimentary canal. 
It is therefore necessary to remove from the skin all 



6 MODEL WOMEN. 

refuse matter from within or without. This can only 
be done by washing from head to foot every morning 
and night. It is safe, and for many reasons most 
beneficial, to use cold water. The flesh brush is of 
great service in stimulating the skin to action, opening 
and cleaning out the pores, promoting a copious 
circulation of blood, and producing a healthful and 
exhilarating glow ; the strength of which sufficiently 
attests the advantages derived. Soap is useful, and 
the common and coarse kinds are better than most 
of those sold by perfumers. Next to cleanliness in 
your persons, is cleanliness in your dwellings. Every 
house ought to undergo an annual, or rather half- 
yearly visitation of all its cellars, its scullery, wash- 
house, garrets, loft, cupboards, closets, and all dark 
places and corners, for the removal of dirt, or any- 
thing in its wrong place. As nearly as possible the 
house ought to be turned " out of windows." 

All who know anything about the construction of 
the human frame admit the necessity of exercise as 
a means of physical training. Exercise produces 
strength ; inaction produces weakness. If we may 
trust the author of the " Castle of Indolence/' the 
women of England, a hundred years ago, were too 
effeminate : — 

" Here languid beauty kept her pale-faced court ; 

Bevies of dainty dames, of high degree, 
From every quarter hither made resort, 

Where from gross mortal care and business free 

They lay, poured out in ease and luxury : 
Or should they a vain show of work assume, 

Alas ! and well-a-day ! what can it be ? 
To knot, to twist, to range the vernal bloom ; 
But far is cast the distaff, spinning wheel, and loom. 



TRUE WOMANHOOD. 7 

Their only labour was to kill the time, 

And labour dire it is, and weary woe ; 
They sit, they loll, turn o'er some idle rhyme, 

Then, rising sudden, to the glass they go, 

Or saunter forth, with tottering step, and slow ; 
This soon too rude an exercise they find ; 

Straight on the couch again their limbs they throw, 
Where hours on hours they, sighing, lie reclined, 
And court the vapoury god soft breathing in the wind." 

This graphic description, with little or no modifi- 
cation, may be applied to a large class still. The 
peasant girl, when her spirits are buoyant, is allowed 
to obey her natural feelings — to dance and skip and 
run ; and thus she grows up strong and straight. 
But the young lady is receiving constant admonitions 
to curb all propensity to such vulgar activity, and, 
just in proportion as she subdues nature, she receives 
the praise of being well-bred. Why this difference ? 
Mammas, aunts, and governesses may be of opinion 
that a robust physique is undesirable — that health 
and vigour are plebeian — that delicacy, feebleness, 
and timidity are ladylike : but rosy cheeks, laughing 
eyes, and a finely rounded figure draw admiring 
glances from the opposite sex. A playground is an 
essential department of every school, and girls as well 
as boys should be taught the importance of vigorous 
exertion. But at all periods of life exercise is in- 
dispensable to health. Indolence destroys the very 
capacity of enjoyment ; whereas labour puts the body 
in tone. A sensible young lady, some time ago, 
wrote as follows to the Medical Journal : — "I used to 
be so feeble that I could not lift a broom, and the 
least physical exertion would make me ill for a week. 



8 MODEL WOMEN. 

Looking one day at the Irish girls, and noticing their 
healthy robust appearance, I determined to make a 
new trial, and see if I could not bring the roses to 
my cheeks, and rid myself of the dreadful lassitude that 
oppressed me. One sweeping day I went bravely to 
work, cleaning the parlours, three chambers, the front 
stairs and hall, after which I lay down and rested 
until noon, when I rose and ate a heartier meal than 
for many a day. Since that time I have been occu- 
pied some portion of every day in active domestic 
labour, and now all my friends are congratulating 
me upon my improved and wondrous vigour, to 
which I have hitherto been a stranger. Young ladies, 
try my catholicon." Of course, moderation is to be 
observed in exercise ; immoderate exertion produces 
exhaustion. 

It is well known how greatly physical comfort 
depends upon clothing. The want of sufficient clothing 
occasions a vast amount of suffering among the 
poorer classes ; and many who can afford to dress as 
they please subject themselves to various mischiefs, 
under the influence of ignorance, carelessness, or 
fashion. The most common mistake is, to dress too 
coldly in summer and too warmly in winter. Flannel 
ought to be worn next the skin all the year round. 
It is of as much use for absorbing the perspiration in 
hot weather, as for warming the body in cold. " The 
rule is," says Dr. Andrew Combe, "not to dress in an 
invariable way in all cases, but to put on clothing in 
kind and quantity sufficient in the individual case to 
protect the body effectually from an abiding sensation of 
cold, however slight" Females of all classes need to 
be warned against the evils of tight lacing. The 



TRUE WOMANHOOD. 9 

dress of the bride celebrated in the Song of Solomon 
combined utility with taste; bnt onr ladies mnst have 
habiliments that outrage every law of propriety, and 
force their bodies into the most unnatural shapes. 
Loose garments are both cooler in summer and 
warmer in winter than integuments closely com- 
pressing the body. 

By attention to these subjects on which suggestions 
have been offered, you cannot fail to secure the pre- 
servation and improvement of the health of the body. 
It is your duty to employ all practicable means for 
this purpose. " Know ye not that your bodies are 
temples of the Holy Ghost ?" Honour therefore 
the body as a holy thing ; and beware how you put 
the chains of slavery upon it, or expose it from 
selfishness to hunger and nakedness. The importance 
of physical training needs to be rung into the ears of 
all, as with the peal of a trumpet. " It is reckoned," 
says Dr. Robert Lee in a sermon preached before 
royalty, "that one hundred thousand persons die 
annually in England of preventible diseases. In the 
same proportion more than a million and a quarter 
mast die annually from the same causes in Europe. 
In the fact that the platform, the press, and the 
pulpit have lifted up their voices on behalf of 
physical education, we recognise one of the most 
hopeful signs of the times.' ' 



INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT. 

Although all rational men believe that women 
ought to be better instructed, there is a class of pe- 
dants who are of opinion that the same facilities for 



10 MODEL WOMEN. 

the acquisition of knowledge would make them rather 
the rivals than the companions of men. Hence our 
famous seats of learning are open to the one sex, and 
the most tempting prizes are within their reach ; but 
no such privileges are accorded to the other. We 
are glad that the question regarding the propriety or 
impropriety of young women availing themselves of 
an academical education has been raised, in a some- 
what unexpected form, at the oldest university in 
Scotland. A young English lady, Miss Elizabeth 
Garrett, the daughter of a gentleman of independent 
fortune, who had educated herself highly in classics 
and some of the physical sciences, with a view to the 
study of medicine, visited St. Andrews a few sum- 
mers ago, and intimated her desire to become a stud- 
ent in several of the classes during the winter. Some 
of the professors gave her decided encouragement ; 
and others were understood to say that they would 
offer no opposition. They were all ordinarily gallant, 
except Professor Ferrier, whose strong conservative 
tendencies led him to oppose. She applied to the 
secretary for a matriculation ticket, received the 
ticket, paid the fee, and signed her name in the book. 
Next day she presented her ticket to Dr. Heddle, and 
asked leave to attend his lectures on chemistry. He 
had no objection, and gave her a letter to Mr. Ire- 
land, authorising him to give her a ticket for the 
class. In the same way she obtained a ticket for Dr. 
Day's class of anatomy and physiology. He gave her 
a cordial welcome. But alas ! the senatus met and 
passed a resolution to the effect that the issuing of the 
tickets to Miss Garrett was not sufficiently authorised, 
that the novel question raised ought to be deliber- 



TRUE WOMANHOOD. 11 

ately considered and decided, that the opinion of 
other universities and lawyers should be taken, and 
that in the meantime the lady should not be allowed 
to attend on the classes of the university. All honour, 
and all success to those noble men who are labouring 
to destroy such exclusiveness, and to make these na- 
tional institutions free to all, whether male or female. 
Your business, meanwhile, is to make the most and 
the best of the appliances within your reach. 

Different schools of mental philosophy have variously 
divided and named the intellectual faculties ; we are 
not careful to follow the exact definitions, divisions, 
or phraseologies of the metaphysician; it will serve 
our purpose better to take those prominent points 
which all may comprehend and appreciate. It ap- 
pears to us that there are four distinct stages of mental 
development, characterised by four distinct classes 
of faculties. The first is distinguished by the percep- 
tive ; the second by the conceptive ; the third by the 
knowing; and the fourth by the reasoning. These 
are discriminated from one another by the peculiar 
activity of the faculties which are distinctive of each ; 
and they are mutally connected by the necessity of a 
certain amount of simultaneous active development. 

The perceptive faculties adapt you to the material 
world, and furnish you with information concerning 
the powers, properties, and glories of matter. Their 
distinctive office is to observe ; and they should be 
cultivated with the utmost care, for they not only lie 
at the basis of all mental superstructure, by fur- 
nishing the other faculties with the stock, or raw 
materials to work on ; but in proportion to the dis- 
tinctness of the perceptions will be the accuracy of the 



12 MODEL WOMEN. 

memory, and probably the precision of the judgment. 
How then can their power and activity be developed ? 
simply by exercising them — by opening your eyes 
and keeping them open. The world is full of objects ; 
but multitudes pass through life of whom it may be 
said, " having eyes they see not." 

The peculiar function of the conc&ptive faculties is 
to store the mind with ideas formed out of previous 
knowledge. When you completely enter into a scene 
portrayed in history or in poetry, and approach the 
situation of the actual observer, you are said to con- 
ceive what is meant, and also to imagine it. There 
is a notion pretty prevalent, that the culture of those 
powers which relate to the ornamental rather than 
the essential is to be sought only by the rich, or those 
destined to occupy a high position in society. No 
mistake could be more mischievous and cruel. Not 
only are they sources of enjoyment, but the main 
safeguards of purity — if, indeed, we should distin- 
guish these ; for in being the former they become 
the latter. The means of aesthetic cultivation are, 
more or less, within the reach of all. Contemplate 
the towering mountain and the extending plain — the 
starry firmament and the boundless ocean ; listen to 
music and oratory ; visit the galleries of art, mechan- 
ism, and industry. But literature is at once the most 
potent and most widely available instrument for the 
expansion of the susceptibilities. Literary artists are 
the true unveilers of nature. 

" Blessings be on them, and eternal praise, 
The poets who, on earth, have made us heirs 
Of truth, and pure delight, by heavenly lays." 



TRUE WOMANHOOD. 13 

But for them, nature, aye and humanity too, in their 
higher teachings, would remain sealed books — dead 
languages, to the millions of the race. 

The knowing faculties enable you to apprehend the 
objects of knowledge, whether generals or particulars, 
present or absent ; and also to classify, extend, and 
generalise these judgments, and express them in the 
form of propositions. These mental operations in- 
dicate a high region of thought, and give a wide 
range of view. The study of the abstract terms and 
phrases of language, arithmetic, geometry, and gram- 
mar cultivate these powers. But natural science in 
its various branches is the grandest instrument for 
the development of the understanding. It should 
form a part in the education of every human being ; 
yet it is almost entirely neglected in our schools, and 
our colleges have rarely given it an adequate place 
in their curriculum. Let us hope that, in the im- 
provements contemplated in the whole system of 
education, this lamentable deficiency shall be reme- 
died. Meanwhile, let every woman try to educate 
herself as best she can. Owing to the inordinate use 
of pseudo- classical phraseology, this fascinating study 
has too long been considered as a profession restricted 
to a favoured few, and interdicted to the many. By 
means of books written in a simple and popular style, 
and the application of your own faculties, you may be- 
come acquainted with the laws, creatures, and forms 
of the material universe — supply your educational 
deficiency, and acquire the power of levying from 
everything in nature a store of happiness. 

The reasoning faculties methodise the materials of 
thought and investigate truth according to certain 



14 MODEL WOMEN. 

definite principles. With a penetrating and compre- 
hensive glance they examine all the processes of 
thought, and not merely seek knowledge, but endea- 
vour to discover its sources. They are less likely to 
manifest themselves than the other intellectual groups ; 
but in well regulated minds they hold all the other 
faculties in subjection, and harmonise and regulate 
their operations. No part of your nature is more sus- 
ceptible of cultivation than this ; and it ought to be 
cultured most assiduously, for it lies at the basis of all 
practical application of knowledge and experience. 
How can these crowning powers be developed ? By 
inductive and deductive reasoning. Analyse, compare, 
draw conclusions, and search for causes. Weigh well 
the validity of your arguments, or, it may be, the 
accuracy of your processes of investigation. Never 
contend for opinions which you do not believe ; false 
reasoning distorts and warps the soul, and confounds 
the distinction between right and wrong. Remember 
that you are as responsible for your opinions and judg- 
ments as for your actions and conduct. 

" Majestic Truth; and where Truth deigns to come, 
Her sister Liberty will not be far." 

From what has been advanced, it will be seen that 
in our view intellectual education does not consist in 
the amount of knowledge acquired, but in the due 
exercise of all the faculties. Education is an art ; the 
art, namely, of qualifying human beings for the func- 
tions for which they are destined. Now, in order to 
the perfection of an art, it must be founded on a 
corresponding science. But so far is such a science 
from being yet constructed, that the necessity for it 



TKUE WOMANHOOD. 15 

has only been recently pointed out. Notwithstanding 
the lack of scientific foundation, the practical art has 
lately undergone great improvement in almost all its 
details. The method of nature is the archetype of all 
methods; and had educators followed her teachings, we 
should never have heard of the once universal practice 
of learning by rote, nor of the forcing system now 
happily falling daily into more discredit, nor of the 
old system of rule teaching, instead of teaching by 
principles ; that is, the leaving of generalisations until 
there are particulars to base them on. As regards 
formal intellectual development, you labour under 
disadvantages, but need not despair. If the proudest 
princess may not become a scholar in an English, 
Scotch, or Irish university on the same conditions as 
the other students, the humblest domestic servant may 
matriculate in the university of nature, and enter upon 
studies more exalted and varied than can be pursued 
anywhere else. Ladies' medical colleges are springing 
up, by means of which you may enter upon a lucrative 
occupation, most womanly in its character, and unrival- 
ed in scope, variety, or usefulness by any other female 
employment. Mechanics' institutes and lyceums have 
their female classes, where you may get valuable in- 
struction, have access to books of every description, 
and thus at pleasure hold intercourse with the best 
and wisest of your species; hear all the wit, and serve 
yourselves heir to all the wisdom, which has enter- 
tained or enriched successive generations. By- and- by 
we hope to see working women's colleges established 
in all our great cities and manufacturing centres, 
where special education shall be given about all that 
a maiden ought to learn, a wife to know, and a mother 



16 MODEL WOMEN. 

to practise. National organisations for being taught, 
examined, and diplomatized are not absolutely neces- 
sary. Many great minds have been educated without 
them. The essential elements of mental development 
are within your reach. You want no more than the 
will. Resolve therefore to make yourselves equal to 
the important duties you are called upon to fulfil. 

MORAL DISCIPLINE. 

Britain has been called the " paradise of women." 
As regards moral position, this is certainly true. 
Mighty is your power in this respect. A virtuous 
woman in the seclusion of her home, breathing the 
sweet influences of virtue into the hearts and lives of 
her beloved ones, is an evangel of goodness to the 
world. The instinctive and disinterested love of a 
mother consecrates every lesson which she may give 
to her children. " There is a love of offspring," says 
the eloquent author of the " Natural History of En- 
thusiasm," "that knows no restrictive reasons, that 
extends to any length of personal suffering or toil ; 
a feeling of absolute self-renunciation, whenever the 
interests of children involve a compromise of the 
comfort or tastes of the parent. There is a love of 
children, in which self-love is drowned ; a love which, 
when combined with intelligence and firmness, sees 
through and casts aside every pretext of personal gra- 
tification, and which steadily pursues the highest and 
most remote welfare of its object, with the determina- 
tion at once of an animal instinct and of a well con- 
sidered rational purpose. There is a species of love 
not liable to be worn by time, or slackened, as from 



TRUE WOMANHOOD. 17 

year to year children become less and less dependent 
upon parental care ; it is a feeling which possesses the 
energy of the most vehement passions, along with the 
calmness and appliancy of the gentlest affections ; a 
feeling purged, as completely as any human sentiment 
can be, of the grossness of earth ; and which seems to 
have been conferred upon human nature as a sample of 
emotions proper to a higher sphere.' ' Mothers have no 
business with children until they are prepared to train 
them up in the way they should go. If you would 
discharge this high function, you must discipline all 
the moral faculties. Tour opportunities are eminently 
favourable. 

The moral powers of your nature are divided by 
Dr. Reid and Mr. Stewart into appetites, desires, 
affections, self-love, and the moral faculty. They call 
those feelings which take their rise from the body, 
and which operate periodically, appetite. By desires, 
they mean those feelings which do not take their rise 
from the body, and which do not operate periodically. 
Under the title of affections, they comprehend all those 
active principles whose direct and ultimate object is 
the communication of joy or pain to your fellow- 
creatures. According to them, self-love is an instinc- 
tive principle in the human mind, which impels you to 
preserve your life and promote your happiness. The 
moral faculty they define to be an original principle 
of your nature, whereby you distinguish between right 
and wrong. To treat this subject adequately, or to 
give all the rules and maxims by which your active 
and moral powers may be stimulated and regulated, 
would belong to a treatise on ethics. Your moral 
nature may be classed under two great principles, the 

c 



18 MODEL WOMEK. 

self- seeking, and the disinterested ; and the most im- 
portant part of moral discipline is to depress the 
former, and exalt the latter. 

The control of the selfish feelings is essential to 
moral growth. To live to gratify the flesh, or to 
become rich, or to be distinguished in places of fashion 
and amusement, is to be less than women. Destitute 
of the high power of which we are speaking — if no 
predominant passion has yet gained the ascendency — 
you will yield to the pressure of the multitude, and be 
fashioned by your companions. But if the passions 
be strong, by-and-by you will become the slaves of 
vice. The noblest endowments will not save from 
such a catastrophe ; indeed, the danger of being se- 
duced is greatest to minds of high sensibility. We 
could name not a few, of the largest sympathies, the 
noblest sentiments, the most splendid genius, who 
have been degraded and destroyed, because they failed 
in the maintenance of self-control. 

" Eeader, attend: whether thy soul 
Soars fancy's flight beyond the pole, 
Or darkling grubs this earthly hole 

In low pursuit ; 
Know, prudent, cautious self-control 

Is wisdom's root." 

To be able, amidst the multiplied vexations of life, 
to exercise comprehensive and sustained self-control, 
is worth more than the proudest victory ever achieved 
in the field, and it is a battle you may win. 

The great idea of duty, which springs up within you 
in opposition to interest, must be cultivated above all 
Dthers, for on it all others depend. Conscience has a 
regulative power over all the faculties of your nature. 



TEUE WOMANHOOD. 19 

11 Its slightest touches, instant pause, 
Debar all side pretences, 
And resolutely keep its laws, 
Uncaring consequences." 

The universality of a moral sense has been ques- 
tioned by many; yet the idea of duty is felt by alh 
When enlightened as well as sincere, and carried out 
to its legitimate extent, it exalts and dignifies human 
nature. This may be called the great conservative law 
of creation. It is the reflection of this principle in 
the material world that we see binding the spheres to 
their central sun, and preventing them dashing from 
their orbits in wild and disastrous confusion. The 
sense of moral accountableness alone has power to 
conquer the "lusts of the flesh and the lusts of the 
mind," and hold them in subjection. The poet of 
our age has apostrophized duty in words which you 
should make your own. 

" To humble function's awful power 

I call thee. I myself commend 

Unto thy guidance from this hour ; 

Oh, let my weakness have an end. 
Give unto me, made lowly, wise, 

The spirit of self-sacrifice ; 
The confidence of reason give, 
And in the light of Truth, thy bondslave let me live." 

You are happy or miserable, you are honoured oi 
degraded, just as you neglect or observe this primal 
duty. Armed with a sense of duty, you are proof 
against all representations of danger. In confirma- 
tion of this, we can adduce a cloud of witnesses, an 
host of martyrs, multitudes of all nations and ages, 
and conditions and sexes, for whom the flames of the 

c 2 



20 MODEL WOMEN. 

tormentor were kindled in vain ; against whom the 
sword of persecution w r as drawn to no purpose ; and 
who held fast their integrity, though they knew death 
to be the consequence. Those who are nerved with a 
sense of duty cannot be worsted. They fall back upon 
the strength of the Eternal, and set all the powers of 
evil at defiance. 

We are not unmindful of the difficulty of cultivating 
in due proportion the qualities we have now described. 
Only a very few of our race have possessed, in an 
eminent degree, strong passions and strong command 
over them, a conscience quick in its discernment, and 
a will unswerving in its purpose. But while we 
recognise this, we contend that moral discipline is 
something possible. It has foundations in your nature. 
Its elements and means are simple and common. 
Every condition of life furnishes aids to it. Storms, 
disasters, hostilities, and sufferings are designed to 
school selfish feeling and promote generous satisfaction. 
Goodness is not worth much unless tried in these fires. 
Home is indeed the great sphere for preparing the 
young to act and to endure. " What would my 
mother say ? " is the first whisper of conscience in the 
breast of the simple child ; and, " What would my 
mother think?" its last note as it expires under a 
course of debauchery and sin. Nevertheless, it is 
equally certain that the best training will not make 
you women apart from your own efforts. On the other 
hand, however bad your early training may have been, 
with a resolute will, a brave heart, and Divine help, 
you may conquer your early habits, and stand forth 
moral heroines. Human nature grows in every direc- 
tion in which it is trained, and accommodates itself 



TRUE WOMANHOOD. 21 

to every circumstance placed in its way ; therefore, 
yon may take all the flowers that grow in the moral 
garden and hang them ronnd yonr neck for a garland. 
Dr. Chalmers well says : "In moral education, every 
new achievement of principle smooths the way to 
future achievements of the same kind ; and the pre- 
cious fruit or purchase of each moral virtue is to set 
us on higher and firmer vantage-ground, for the con- 
quests of principle in all time coming." 

SPIRITUAL CULTURE. 
Atheism is the most unnatural thing in the universe. 
The creed inscribed on its black flag is absolutely 
dreadful. It proclaims, in characters visible to every 
eye, that there is no God, no resurrection, no future 
state, no accountability, no virtue, no vice, no heaven, 
no hell, and that death is an eternal sleep. But 
atheism only proclaims human weakness ; it does not 
disprove God's existence. There is somethingdn your 
very nature which leads to the recognition and worship 
of a superior Being. The evidence of this propension 
is as extensive as the race, and as prolonged as the 
history of humanity. The religious rites and idola 
tries to be found in each of the four quarters of the 
globe, and the piercing cry which has resounded in 
every age, " Where is our Father ? We have neither 
heard His voice, nor seen His shape. Oh that we knew 
where we might find Him, that we might come even 
to His seat ! " are the proofs of this capacity for wor- 
ship. In every human breast there springs up spon- 
taneously a principle which seeks for the infinite, 
uncreated cause ; which cannot rest till it ascend to 
the eternal, all-comprehending Mind. Nothing but 



22 MODEL WOMEN. 

the contemplation and enjoyment of Deity can satisfy 
the souls that He has formed for Himself. Until that 
is obtained, the usual want in humanity never can be 
filled. 

Christianity is the great necessity and the only 
sufficiency of your nature. It stirs up the lowest 
depths of your spiritual being, that the soul, in all its 
completeness, my lay hold on God and be blessed. 
All infidel philosophy is wrecked here. It does not 
understand, and consequently cannot explain, your 
relations to the Invisible, and your capacities for a 
blessed immortality. It can mark the contrasts in 
your character, but is unable to reconcile them. The 
grave, although a shallow, is to it a soundless abyss. 
All is over and done with the being who is deposited 
there. Christianity alone elucidates the mystery of 
humanity. It utters certain sounds as to whence you 
came, what you are, and where you are going. The 
Scriptures teach that you derive a corrupt nature 
from your original progenitors, and this is a satisfac- 
tory solution of the aversions and propensions you 
display. A scheme is also propounded for the re- 
mission of human guilt, and the renovation of the 
human soul. The fact that one condition essential to 
spiritual culture is a supernatural condition, does not 
affect self-effort ; for here, as everywhere in the whole 
economy of grace, it will be found that the reaping 
will be in proportion to the sowing. Let us now see 
the influence of true religion upon the spiritual powers 
of the soul. 

The faculty of hope cannot stop at what exists in 
time, but must wander through eternity. Its due 
exercise redoubles all your pleasures, by enabling you 



TRUE WOMANHOOD. 23 

to enjoy them twice, — in anticipation as well as fruition. 
In trouble, this principle is a sure support. 

" Hope, like the glimmering taper's light, 
Adorns and cheers the way ; 
And still, as darker grows the night, 
Emits a brighter ray." 

Hope protests against breaking down under dis- 
couragements. She inscribes her loveliest rainbows 
on your murkiest clouds. Christianity is adapted to 
this power. It unfolds an infinitely higher order of 
life — an eternity of happiness, the boundaries of which 
the largest hope mounted on her loftiest pinions 
cannot survey. The inhabitants of that heavenly 
world look back upon their trials as evils which exist 
only in recollection ; and to heighten the transport, 
they will remember that God shall wipe away all tears 
from their eyes. 

" Oft the big, unbidden tear, stealing down the furrowed cheek, 
Told in eloquence sincere, tales of woe they could not speak ; 
But those days of weeping o'er — past this scene of toil and pain, 
They shall feel distress no more ; never, never weep again. 

'Mid the chorus of the skies, 'mid the angelic lyres above, — 
Hark ! their songs melodious rise, songs of praise to Jesus' love ! 
Happy spirits ! ye are fled where no grief can entrance find ; 
Lulled to rest the aching head, soothed the anguish of the mind. 

All is tranquil and serene, calm and undisturbed repose ; 
There no cloud can intervene, there no angry tempest blows. 
Every tear is wiped away, sighs no more shall heave the breast ; 
Night is lost in endless day, sorrow in eternal rest." 

Religion teaches you not to diminish hope by 
mourning the loss of dear children or Christian friends, 
but to cultivate it with the faith that they are now in 
heaven. 



24 MODEL WOMEN. 

" 0, think that while you're weeping here, 
The hand a golden harp is stringing ; 

And, with a voice serene and clear, 

The ransomed soul, without a tear, 
The Saviour's praise is singing. 

And think that all their pains are fled, 
Their toils and sorrows closed for ever, 

"While He, whose Wood for man was shed, 

Has placed upon His servant's head 
A crown that fadeth never." 

Christian hope maketh not ashamed. The wonders 
of Providence and grace will yet be completed. 

The faculty of faith summons to the steady and 
devout contemplation of spiritual truth. It believes 
in the superhuman, and rebukes those who pride 
themselves in accepting nothing till it is proved. 
Christianity is a universal spiritual religion, which 
encircles in its design the whole human family, and 
blesses by its influence all who receive it. Seeing 
then that faith is the great motive power of the 
whole plan, its culture becomes vitally important. 
Although not alone sufficient, in every instance, the 
ordinary means of grace are specially calculated to 
promote this end. When the great apostle has 
enumerated the achievements of a host of believing 
worthies, he adds, "looking unto Jesus, the author 
and finisher of our faith ; who, for the joy that was 
set before Him, endured the cross, despising the 
shame, and is now set down at the right hand of 
God." The character of Christ is the most wonderful 
that yon can contemplate, as it combines the perfec- 
tions of the Divine nature, displayed in their most 
commanding as well as their most lovely aspect, 



TRUE WOMANHOOD. 25 

with all the sinless sensibility of humanity. But the 
whole discipline of life is needed for the growth of 
faith. Tour labours, your trials of various kinds, 
your experiences, your successes and failures, your 
very errors, may, by the Divine blessing, He made 
instrumental to its increase. For the higher attain- 
ments of faith, trials are not only useful, but indis- 
pensable. The martyrs reached their great faith by 
great tribulation. Thus we see powerful reasons why 
all the people of God are more or less subjected to 
trials and hardships. 

The faculty of veneration inspires devotion, and leads 
to the manifestation of a feeling of dependence. It 
centres upon the Supreme Being, and largely developed 
takes great delight in the exercises of religion, and 
never eats a morsel of bread, nor drinks of the cool- 
ing stream, without spontaneous thanksgiving. To 
culture this, is eminently to educate yourselves. The 
contemplation of the stupendous works of God pro- 
motes veneration. W,ell might the poet exclaim — 

*'An undevout astronomer is mad." 

Prayer is admirably calculated to produce fervency 
of spirit. Paul understood the philosophy of this 
subject when he said, " But we all, with open face, 
beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are 
changed into the same image from glory to glory, 
even as by the Spirit of the Lord." Hence the com- 
mandment that you should pray always. The in- 
fluence of music upon this sentiment is well known. 

" There is in souls a sympathy with sounds." 

In all the resources of thought, material cannot be 



26 MODEL WOMEN. 

found so subduing and overpowering as in the 
scenes of redemption. Veneration was large in 
Cowper, Charles Wesley, Watts, and Newton; and 
their hymns will fan devotion till the end of time. 

Your opportunities of spiritual culture are abun- 
dant. None need be so diligent in business as to 
have no time for religion. The Sabbath guarantees a 
season for unmolested attention to the soul. Wealth 
cannot buy up its spiritual blessings, and poverty 
operates as no disqualification for its favours. It 
smiles as sweetly in the humble cottage as in the 
marble palace. On this day thousands of recognised 
ministers, and hundreds of thousands of Sabbath- 
school teachers, reason, plead, and expostulate with 
millions of their fellow- creatures, on the greatest of 
all themes. Over and above these, what earnest 
lessons are being instilled in the retirements of home ! 
There is also another source of spiritual education, 
open nearly to all, namely, access to books whose aim 
is to teach the practical principles of religion. Then 
the Bible is within the reach of all. It is the text- 
book of the pulpit, the daily manual of the school, and 
the familiar companion of the family. Pull of human 
sympathies, breathing unsullied purity, illustrating 
principles by examples, investing precepts in poetry, 
and commending itself not more to the learned than 
the unlearned, the Bible possesses every quality 
which can contribute to success as an instrument of 
spiritual culture. 



TRUE WOMANHOOD. 27 

EDUCATION COMPLETE. 

Thus have we sketched, on a small scale, a complete 
scheme of education. How to live ? — that is the 
question. How to use all your powers to the glory of 
God and the greatest advantage to, yourselves and 
others — how to live completely ? The intellectual 
part of your nature is superior to the physical; the 
moral higher than the intellectual ; and the spiritual 
highest of all. Education complete is the full and 
harmonious cultivation of these four divisions. Not 
exhaustive development in any one, supremely im- 
portant though it may be — not even an exclusive 
discipline of two, or even three of these divisions; 
but the culture of them all, and the training in due 
proportion of all their faculties. When these powers 
act simultaneously and harmoniously, no one unduly 
depressed, and no one improperly exalted, education 
has discharged its function, and a type of woman- 
hood is realised which closely resembles your Creator's 
ideal. Perfect culture is perfect character. What a 
glorious creature is ;such a woman ! Her body is the 
temple of the Holy Ghost, and her mind is enriched 
with the fine gold and jewellery of knowledge. Not 
only friends but even foes are constrained to ac- 
knowledge that she is the "glory of man," in every 
sense a "help corresponding with his dignity. " More 
glorious than anything in the material universe is she 
who earnestly cultivates all her powers and practically 
recognises all her relationships, who has come to a 
perfect woman, to the measure of the stature of the 
fulness of Christ. We admit that all are not created 
alike, but we know that it is impossible to set limits 



28 MODEL WOMEN. 

to the attainments of the smallest or the achieve- 
ments of the weakest. For the sake of your country 
— for the sake of yonr race — for the sake of your 
children — we urge yon to begin now to cultivate, in 
all their compass and variety, the attributes of true 
womanhood. 



CHAPTER II. 

jmtlrarxtus 0f Jfcmafe C{mraxlex\ 



" The peculiar attributes of woman are softness, tenderness, 
love ; in fact, she has more heart than man." 

Benjamin Paksons. 



WOMAN IN RELATION TO MAN. 

We have it upon the best authority, that woman 
was created " because it was not good for man to be 
alone," and the maintenance of the sex, in at least 
equal numbers, is the emphatic proclamation of the 
same truth throughout all ages. In paradise man 
enjoyed the sunshine of God's favour, earth presented 
nothing but pleasure, and heaven unfolded nothing 
but bliss. Celibacy was thus tried under the most 
favourable circumstances, and it failed. Multitudes 
seem to think that women are little more than a su- 
perior description of domestic animals ; but in the state 
of primeval innocency, Adam lived on the fruits of 
paradise : Eve was not needed to cook his meals, and 
there was no wardrobe to be looked after. The laun- 
dress and the laundry were not then in use. A 
suitable companion was what man required, and 
woman was formed and constituted the meetest help 
for him. The service of the sexes is reciprocal, and 
when man isolates himself, he not only suffers an 
injury but inflicts a wrong. The Bible declares that 
a wife is the gift of God, and when a good woman, 
there is a double blessing in the nature of the re- 



30 MODEL WOMEN. 

lation. But if a bad woman, her position as a wife 
greatly auguments her power for mischief. Woman 
and man, however, are not intended to be rivals or 
opponents of each other. Of design God made 
neither complete. There is a want in each, that the 
two might coalesce into one. Duality is necessary to 
completeness. 

" Each fulfils 

Defect in each, and always thought in thought, 

Purpose in purpose, will in will they grow, 

The single pure and perfect animal ; 

The two-celled heart beating with one full stroke 

Life." 

As we note the chief peculiarities of female cha- 
racter, it will be seen that woman fills up the vacuum 
in man, balances his defects, absorbs his cares, and 
increases his joys. 

CORPOREAL ORGANIZATION. 

We believe scientific inquirers are not quite unani- 
mous, as to whether woman really is by nature phy- 
sically inferior to man, and it must be admitted that 
among the aboriginal inhabitants of at least one-half 
of the globe, she is treated as if she were physically 
superior. In France, Belgium, and other continental 
countries, she may be seen carrying the heaviest 
loads, guiding the plough, and performing the sever- 
est labours. Trained to gymnastic feats, she per- 
forms them with quite as much ease and intrepidity 
as man, while her power of enduring pain and fatigue, 
when fairly called into operation, is proverbial. Nerve 
and muscle depend chiefly upon exercise, hence women 
who engage in hard manual labour surpass in bodily 



PECULIARITIES OF FEMALE CHARACTER. 3] 

vigour multitudes of recluse and retired scholars 

o 

of the other sex. 

The extraordinary career of a female sailor re- 
cently went the round of the newspapers : in con- 
sequence r of information supplied ^by Captain Lane, 
of the Expedient, then lying in the Victoria Dock, 
Hartlepool, regarding a young woman, Charlotte 
Petrie, who shipped with him as an ordinary seaman, 
under the name of "William Bruce, and whose sex 
was not discovered until she arrived at Palermo. 
The girl had been employed as a labourer at the 
works for about ten months, and though working 
alongside of about one hundred and fifty men, she 
was never suspected to be a woman until one of her 
fellow- workmen read to her the account of her ad- 
ventures in the Express, which she admitted to be 
substantially correct, and that she was Charlotte 
Petrie. This account was read to her on Saturday, 
and on Monday morning she disappeared, and has 
not since been heard of. During the period in which 
she was employed at the lead works, she resided in 
Newcastle, and left every morning by the five o'clock 
boat in time to commence work with the other men. 
She was generally dressed in loose sailor's clothes, 
was known to be an industrous and hard working 
man, and was generally liked in the works. She 
mingled freely in a social way with the other labour- 
ers in the factory, and was never, in fact, supposed to 
be a female. While in Newcastle, she was taken ill> 
and was attended, we understand, by one of our emi- 
nent medical men, who also failed to discover that 
' William's ' Christian name was ' Charlotte.' On one 
occasion, this extraordinary girl was the ' spokesman ' 



82 MODEL WOMEN. 

in an appeal for an increase of wages at the lead 
factory, in which she was to some extent successful. 
Her remarkable history has caused considerable 
excitement at St. Anthony's, and many of the work- 
men regret the discovery, as, they say, she was such 
a pleasant fellow to work with, and it has even been 
mooted among them to get up a presentation in her 
behalf. Charlotte Petrie, still in male habiliments, 
was last seen on board one of the river steamers, and 
it is supposed she was on her way to Shields, in order 
to again proceed to sea as a sailor. 

But although modes of life, if alike in the sexes, 
might produce a closer resemblance; taking them 
generally, the difference between their physical or- 
ganizations is both palpable and significant. Woman's 
stature is inferior, her touch is softer, her tread is 
lighter, her form is more symmetrical, and her em- 
brace is more affectionate. Thus nature herself has 
interdicted identification of character and condition. 
In the language of Scripture, woman is " the weaker 
vessel," and her feebler frame and more delicate 
constitution indicate plainly that she should be re- 
garded with special kindness and attention, and not 
exposed to the rough and stormy scenes of life. 

PATIENT ENDURANCE. 

There is reason to think that woman owes this val- 
uable quality to the fact of her being " the weaker 
vessel," and thus her physical inferiority instead of 
being an hindrance becomes a help. Not having 
bodily vigour equal to the other sex, and placed in 
circumstances which would make masculine daring 



PECULIAEITIBS OF FEMALE CHAEACTEE. 33 

unseemly, she cultivates the power of patient endur- 
ance. The history of woman in almost every land 
and age illustrates this fact. When man fails in an 
enterprise, he too often gives up all for lost, or per- 
haps lays violent hands upon himself; but woman 
endures her lot with commendable patience, and 

"Calmly waits her summons, 
Nor dares to stir till heaven shall give permission." 

She believes the eloquent sentences of Bishop 
Home : " Patience is the guardian of faith, the pre- 
server of peace, the cherisher of love, the teacher of 
humility. Patience governs the flesh, strengthens the 
spirit, sweetens the temper, stifles anger, extinguishes 
envy, subdues pride ; she bridles the tongue, refrains 
the hand, tramples upon temptations, endures perse- 
cutions, consummates martyrdom. Patience produces 
unity in the Church, loyalty in the state, harmony in 
families and societies; she comforts the poor and 
moderates the rich; she makes us humble in pros- 
perity, cheerful in adversity, unmoved by calamity 
and reproach ; she teaches to forgive those who have 
injured us, and to be the first in asking forgiveness of 
those whom we have injured; she delights the faith- 
ful, and invites the unbelieving ; she adorns the 
woman, and improves the man ; is loved in a child, 
praised in a young man, and admired in an old man ; 
she is beautiful in either sex and every age." 

The following lines from the pen of the Hon. Mrs. 
Norton are not more beautiful than just. 

" Warriors and statesmen have their meed of praise> 
And what they do or suffer men record ! 
But the long sacrifice of woman's days 

D 



34 MODEL WOMEN. 

Passes without a thought — without a word ; 

And many a holy struggle for the sake 

Of duties sternly, faithfully fulfilled — 

For which the anxious mind must watch and wake, 

And the strong feelings of the heart be stilled — 

Goes by unheeded as the summer's wind, 

And leaves no memory and no trace behind ! 

Yet it may be, more lofty courage swells 

In one meek heart which braves an adverse fate, 

Than his, whose ardent soul indignant swells, 

Warmed by the fight, or cheered through high debate ! 

The soldier dies surrounded ; could he live 

Alone to suffer, and alone to strive ? 

"Answer, ye graves, whose suicidal gloom 
Shows deeper horror than a common tomb ! 
Who sleep within ? the men who would evade 
An unseen lot of which they felt afraid, — 
Embarrassment of means which worked annoy — 
A past remorse — a future blank of joy — ■ 
The sinful rashness of a blind despair — 
These were the strokes which sent your victims there. 

" In many a village churchyard's simple grave, 
Where all unmarked the cypress branches wave ; 
In many a vault where death could only claim 
The brief inscription of a woman's name ; 
Of different ranks and different degrees, 
From daily labour to a life of ease, 
(From the rich wife who through the weary day 
Wept in her jewels, grief's unceasing prey, 
To the poor soul who trudged o'er marsh and moor ; 
And with her baby begged from door to door,) 
Lie hearts, which ere they found the least release 
Had lost all memory of the blessing ' peace ;' 
Hearts, whose long struggle through unpitied years 
None saw but He who marks the mourner's tears ; 
The obscurely noble ! Who evaded not 
The woe which He had willed should be their lot, 
But nerved themselves to bear." 



PECULIARITIES OF FEMALE CHARACTER. 35 

Yes man is often conquered by his calamities, 
but woman conquers her trials and troubles. The 
former cannot bear a tithe of what the latter endures 
without manifesting a hundred times as much im- 
patience. Woman suffers, and suffers well. There 
are more heroines than heroes in the world. 



CAUTION. 

Woman is more thoughtful and provident than man. 
She guards more carefully against catastrophes, and 
practices assiduously the motto, " Sure bind, sure find." 
Animals which are very defenceless are endowed with 
the acutest senses, and some are said even to sleep with 
their eyes open ; and if, as poets have sung, heaven in- 
tended that woman should be not only a " ministering," 
but a guardian angel to man, then her timidity, by the 
watchfulness it induces, especially qualifies her for her 
post. This may account for that prophetic charac- 
ter which has been particularly attributed to females. 
Most of the heathen oracles employed priestesses 
rather than priests ; and, as all error is the counterfeit 
of truth, even " old wives' prognostications " are only 
an abuse and exaggeration of that foresight which the 
timidity and caution of woman prompt her to exercise. 

Caution just means rational fear, and had some of 
the vaunted sons of valour exercised a little more 
prudence at the commencement of their speculations 
or enterprises, they would have had less cause for ap- 
prehension at the close. Solomon has said, " Blessed 
is the man that feareth always." Strange as it may 
seem, this blessedness is in a remarkable degree the 
possession of woman, and hence her timidity produces 

d 2 



36 MODEL WOMEN. 

fortitude. It is told of Coleridge, that he was ac- 
customed on important emergencies, to consult a 
female friend, placing implicit confidence in her first 
instinctive suggestions. The most eminent men have 
found it great advantage to have advice from this 
quarter. How many a husband would have been 
saved from commercial ruin, if he had only sought or 
attended to the prudent advice of his wife. How 
many a son would have been saved from an early 
grave if he had listened to the warning of his mother. 
We shall furnish one example out of a million that 
might be given. " Mother," said a young farmer who 
was a free liver, "I am going to be inoculated." 
" Dick," exclaimed his mother, emphatically, " if thou 
dost, thou wilt die." Cautious ever are a mother's 
counsels, but he disregarded them, and in a few days 
was in his grave. 

SYMPATHY. 

The term sympathy is one of very wide application. 
It comprehends the whole of the kindly relational feel- 
ings, and invests even inanimate nature with the 
attributes of life. Dr. Lieber, in his " Political Ethics," 
defines it to be " a feeling for the pains and feelings 
of others, though unconnected with any interest of 
our own, and standing in no direct connection with 
us, even in the way of fear for our own future pro- 
tection." Sympathy is peculiarly expansive. It 
fixes upon the essentials of humanity, and disregards 
the accidents. Tenderness of affection is indeed a 
noble quality. There is much sound philosophy in 
the following lines :— r 



PECULIARITIES OF FEMALE CHARACTER. 37 

" How oft the sterner virtues show 
Determined justice, truth severe, 
Firmness and strength to strike the blow, 

Courage to face the peril near, — 
Yet wanting hearts that feel the glow 
* Of love, or for the rising tear 
Responsive sympathy ere know, 
Life's light, without life's warmth to cheer." 

Woman is constitutionally sympathetic. She de- 
lights, unbidden, to soothe the sorrows of the distressed. 
When that celebrated traveller, John Ledyard, ap- 
proached the frontier of Poland, after his arbitrary 
detention in Russia, he exclaimed, " Thank heaven ! 
petticoats appear, and the glimmering of other fea- 
tures." Women are the sure harbingers of an altera- 
tion in manners. All succumb to their irresistible 
influence: the "divine ichor," as Homer calls it, 
mounts the stolid brain, and intoxicates both rich and 
poor, philosopher and clown. Elsewhere he says, " I 
have observed among all nations, that the women 
ornament themselves more than the men ; that where- 
ever found, they are the same kind, civil, obliging, 
humane, tender beings ; that they are ever inclined to 
be gay and cheerful, timorous and modest." The 
adventurous traveller further remarks, " I never ad- 
dressed myself in the language of decency and friend- 
ship to a woman, whether civilized or savage, without 
receiving a decent and friendly answer. With man, 
it has been often otherwise. In wandering over the 
barren plains of inhospitable Denmark, through honest 
Sweden, frozen Lapland, rude and churlish Finland, 
unprincipled Russia, and the wide-spread regions of 
the wandering Tartar, if hungry, dry, cold, wet, or 
sick, woman has ever been friendly to me, and uni- 



00 MODEL WOMEN. 

formly so ; and, to add to this virtue, so worthy of the 
appellation of benevolence, these actions have been 
performed in so free and kind a manner, that if I was 
dry, I drank the sweet draught, and if hungry ate the 
coarse morsel, with a double relish.' ' 

Park, the African traveller, experienced mnch kind- 
ness from females in the wilds of that country, and is 
no less vehement in their praise. The men robbed 
him, and stripped him, and left him to die ; but the 
women pitied the fatigued and hungry man, and sang, 
as they prepared his food, a touching extempore 
melody, of which the refrain was, " Pity the poor 
white man, no mother has he." Yes, as the poet has 
well sung : 

" Woman all exceeds 
In ardent sanctitude, in pious deeds ; 
And chief in woman charities prevail, 
That soothe when sorrows or disease assail ; 
As dropping balm medicinal instils 
Health when we pine, her tears alleviate ills, 
And the moist emblems of her pity flow, 
As heaven relented with the watery bow." 

Deep in the sufferer's nature springs the desire to 
feel woman's hand binding his wound or wiping his 
brow, and to hear soft words dropping from a woman's 
lips. 

" Ask the poor pilgrim, on this convex cast, 
His grizzled locks distorted in the blast ; 
Ask him what accents soothe, what hand bestows 
The cordial beverage, raiment, and repose? 
Oh ! he will dart a spark of ardent flame, 
And clasp his tremulous hands, and woman name." 

The most beautiful features in human nature, as 
well as the most heroic elements of character, are 



PECULIAKITIES OF FEMALE CHARACTEB. 39 

called up and brought into action by sympathy. The 
women, who, during the late war, smoothed the pillow 
of the sick soldier in the hospital, have as high a place 
to-day in the esteem and affection of the nation as 
the heroes who turned the tide of battle on the heights 
of Alma and amid the hills of Balaklava. In thought- 
less flattery, woman is sometimes called an angel; 
but an angel, in sober truth, she is, — a messenger sent 
by God to assuage the sorrows of humanity. Through 
sympathy, she lives in high communion with the 
great workers and sufferers of the past, and imbibes 
the spirit which stimulated and sustained them. 

" O woman ! in our hours of ease, 
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, 
And variable as the shade 
By the light quivering aspen made ; 
When pain and anguish wring the brow, 
A ministering angel thou ! " 

Daniel bestowed the highest encomiums on the affec- 
tion of Jonathan, when he exclaimed — 

"lam distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan ! 
Very pleasant hast thou been unto me : 
Thy love to me was wonderful, — 
Passing the love of women ' " 

We could fill a book with facts illustrative of the 
sincere and strong affection of sisters, aunts, and 
grandmothers. But perhaps widows afford the most 
affecting examples of the constancy of woman's love. 

" The new-made widow, too, I've sometimes spied; 
Sad sight ! slow moving o'er the prostrate dead ; 
Listless she crawls along in doleful black, 
While bursts of sorrow burst from either eye, 
Fast falling down her now untasted cheek. 



40 MODEL WOMEN. 

Prone on the lonely grave of the dear man 
She drops, whilst busy meddling memory, 
In barbarous succession, musters up 
The past endearments of her softer hours, 
Tenacious of its theme. Still, still she thinks 
She sees him, and, indulging the fond thought, 
Clings yet more closely to the senseless turf, 
Nor heeds the passenger who looks that way." 

LOVE OF APPROBATION. 

Woman intensely desires admiration, praise, and 
fame. This quality is an excellent guard upon morals as 
well as manners. The loss of character, to those largely 
endowed with it, is worse than death. " It gives," 
says Mr. Combe, " the desire to be agreeable to others ; 
it is the drill- serjeant of society, and admonishes us 
when we deviate too widely from the line of march 
of our fellows ; it induces as to suppress numberless 
littJe manifestations of selfishness, and to restrain 
many peculiarities of temper and disposition, from the 
dread of incurring disapprobation by giving offence ; 
it is the butt upon which wit strikes, when, by means 
of ridicule, it drives us from our follies." A faculty 
thus beneficial ought to be carefully cultivated. By 
all means indulge in a generous emulation to excel. 
Say nothing and do nothing disgraceful. Assume 
those pleasant modes of action and expression which 
are calculated to elicit encomiums. Mind appearances 
in those little matters which win a good name. No 
sensible man likes to see a slattern ; nor admires a 
wife or sister who appears before him neat and clean, 
but dressed after the fashion of a charwoman. The 
Creator has seen fit to give you a fair form, and it is 
ungrateful to His beneficence not to robe that form 



PECULIARITIES OP FEMALE CHARACTER. 41 

in suitable apparel. At the same time, it is well to 
remember that the epicureanism of the toilet and the 
patient study of costumial display, are neither female 
duties, nor primary requisites for a finished woman. 

How supremely ridiculous many women are ren- 
dered by the excess and perversion of approbative- 
ness. Not long ago young ladies, and some rather 
old dowagers too, wore little hats with round crowns, 
and beautiful lace fringe, edged with bugles and 
fancy bead- work, hanging like a flounce round their 
eyes. The gauzy medium mightily improved the 
looks of a certain class ; but the beauties soon dis- 
covered the disadvantage under which they laboured, 
and i mm ediately betook themselves to broad brims. 
As regards bonnets, once they were so large that it was 
difficult to find the head ; then the difficulty was, not 
to find the head but the thing that was said to cover 
it. We wish our sisters would always emulate their 
gracious sovereign, who " wears her bonnet on her 
head, and pays her hills quarterly." Mantles seem to us 
both comfortable and becoming, and we may add 
economical. 

Few faculties require right direction more than 
this. What multitudes of fathers and husbands 
have been ruined by daughters and wives whose 
whole souls were bent on making a sensation. No 
wonder the gentlemen do not propose. The rich 
silks of the day cannot be had for a wife and daughters, 
with the prodigious trimmings that are equally in- 
dispensable, under a sum that would maintain a 
country clergyman or half-pay officer and his family. 
The paraphernalia of ribbons, laces, fringes, and 
flowers, is more expensive than the entire gown of 



42 MODEL WOMEN. 

ten years ago. The Hon. and Rev. S. G. Osborne, in 
the Times of Friday, July 23, 1858, says that, as a 
rnle, " the acreage of dress and its value is in mon- 
strous proportion to the persons and purses of the 
wearers." As an illustration, we append a selection 
of items from a Regent Street milliner's bill for ' 
£2,754 Os. 6d., which was proved in the London 
Bankruptcy Court, in September, 1857. "Bonnet, 
£12 12s. ; sprigged muslin slip, £11 lis. ; six 
embroidered collars, £15 15s. ; pocket-handkerchief, 
£4 4s. ; another, £5 5s. ; moire antique dress, £10 10s. ; 
ditto, £11 lis. ; ditto, £12 12s. ; ditto, £13 13s. ; ditto, 
£18 18s.; ditto, £19 19s.; brown muslin dress, 
£17 17s. ; court dress, £51 5s. ; ditto, £55 10s. ; 
parasol, £10 10s. ; ditto, £18 18s. ; point lace cap and 
pearls, £11 lis. ; pair of lappets, £8 8s. ; ten buttons, 
£5 ; dressing four dolls, £12 12s. . . . ! ! " Such 
bills are sufficient to empty the purse of Fortunatus, 
and ruin Croesus himself. 

"We sacrifice to dress, till household joy 
And comforts cease. Dress drains our cellar dry, 
And keeps our larder lean ; puts out our fires, 
And introduces hunger, frost, and woe, 
Where peace and hospitality might reign." 

So wrote Cowper. Are his lines less appropriate in 
our day ? 

Wherefore should there be so glaring a difference 
between the sexes in this matter ? Why should men 
think of nothing beyond mere cleanliness, as regards 
dress, and women make it a never ending study ? 
Men strutting along the promenade, dressed off in the 
height of fashion, and engrossed with the elegance of 
their tout ensemble, are scorned as fools and fops. 



PECULIARITIES OF FEMALE CHARACTER. 43 

But women decorated with gold lace, jewels, diamonds, 
magenta and solferino ribbons, may be seen floating 
along the pavement, the admired of all observers. If 
it be unworthy of a man to be so impressed with 
mere outside attire, it is proportionately so of a 
woman. Dames who sail along the street in silk and 
purple which is not their own, have no right in any 
respect to the honour which belongs to women who 
work with their hands and pay their own way. We 
plead for no monotonous uniformity, but warn you of 
the fact, that love of dress has often proved a snare 
both to young men and young women; and that 
to the latter it has frequently been among the first 
steps that led to their ruin. The love of praise was 
planted in your nature, not that you might be the 
slave of vanity, affectation, and ceremoniousness ; but 
that you might seek after goodness, shed new light 
upon the world, and point the way to a Divine life. 
Seek therefore to deserve the approbation of the wise 
and good, rather than to gain general approbation. 
Seek to possess the approbation of your own con- 
science ; to commend yourselves to God ; to receive at 
last the plaudits of your Saviour and Judge. 

TENACITY OF PURPOSE. 
How seldom does a woman give up an object which 
she has resolved to attain, and how rarely does she 
fail in obtaining her end. Obstacles which would 
completely overwhelm the other sex, only quicken her 
zeal and double her diligence. The inexorable deter- 
mination of Lady Macbeth absolutely makes us shrink 
with a terror in which interest and admiration are 
strangely blended. 



44 MODEL WOMEN. 

te I have given suck, and know 
How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me : 
I would, while it were smiling in my face, 
Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, 
And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn, as you 
Have done to this." 

If it be objected that Lady Macbeth is only a 
fiction — the sternly magnificent creation of the poet ; 
we reply, that in the whole compass of Shakespeare's 
works, there is not one character untrue to nature. 
True it is, no women in these civilized times murder 
sleeping kings : but are there, therefore, no Lady Mac- 
beth s in the world ? No women who mock at air- drawn 
daggers ; in sarcastic mood let fall the word coward ; 
and disdain the visionary terrors that haunt their vacil- 
lating husbands ? There are, and many of them too — 
unlike Lady Macbeth — full of virtue and integrity. 

"How many a noble enterprise," to quote from 
Parson's "Mental and Moral Dignity of Woman," 
"would have been abandoned but for the firmness 
of woman ! How often the faint-hearted have been 
inspirited, and the coward goaded to valour by the 
voice of woman. Indeed, it is a query whether 
fortitude would not long ere this have been exiled 
from our world but for the fostering care and in- 
fluence of females. Often the martyr for liberty or 
religion would have failed and given way, had not 
the voice of a wife or mother interposed, and rekindled 
his dying ardour." The most valuable of all posses- 
sions — either for man or woman — is a strenuous and 
steady mind, a self-deciding spirit, prepared to act, to 
suffer, or to die, as occasion requires. A great deal of 
talent is lost every day for want of a little courage. 



PECULIARITIES OF FEMALE CHARACTER. 45 

The fact is, to do anything in the world worth doing, 
you must not stand back shivering and thinking of 
the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble 
through as well as you can. History records not a 
few heroines who suffered not the commotions of the 
world, nor even the changes of nature, to shake or 
disturb the more stedfast purpose of their souls. In 
all kinds of serene peril and quiet horror, woman 
seem to have infinitely more philosophical endurance 
than man. 

On the 6th September, 1838, the 'Forfarshire 
steamer was wrecked on the Fame islands. Up to 
that time Grace Darling had never accompanied her . 
father on any of his humane enterprises. She knew 
how to handle an oar, and that was all. But when 
she saw the mariners holding on by the frail planks, 
which every billow threatened to scatter ; she uttered 
a cry of thrilling horror, which was echoed by her 
father and mother. It seemed as if their lives were 
in her hand, and so eloquently, wildly, and desperately 
did she urge her request, that her father aided by her 
mother launched the boat. Despite menacing and 
potent waves, the father and the daughter neared the 
object of their hopes. The nine survivors were 
placed in the boat, and conveyed to the Longstone 
lighthouse, where the kind hands and warm heart of 
Mrs. Darling changed their sad condition into one of 
comfort and joy. The whole country, and indeed all 
Europe, rang with the brave deed Grace had done. 
How applicable to such a noble girl are the lines of 
Cowper : — 

" She holds no parley with unmanly fears : 
Where duty bids, she confidently steers ; 



46 MODEL WOMEN. 

Faces a thousand dangers at its call, 

And trusting in her God, surmounts them all." 

In the path of probity and fidelity many a noble 
struggle has been maintained by woman. Plied by 
bribes and fair promises to depart from rectitude, she 
has boldly shaken off the tempter, risen superior to 
the trial, and nobly conquered. Helen Walker, the 
Jeanie Deans, of Sir Walter Scott, refusing the 
slightest departure from veracity, even to save the 
life of her sister ; nevertheless showed her fortitude 
in rescuing her from the severity of the law, at the 
expense of personal exertions, which the time ren- 
dered as difficult as the motive was laudable. Isabel 
was accused of the murder of her own child ! Poor 
Helen was called as the principal witness. The 
counsel for the prisoner gave her to understand that 
one means existed by which the unhappy girl might 
escape. "If," said he, "you can declare that Isabel 
made the slightest preparation for her expected babe, 
or that she informed you by the merest chance word 
of the circumstances in which she was placed, such a 
statement will save your sister's life !" "I cannot," 
she replied ; " not even to save her, will I swear a 
falsehood ; whatever may be the consequence, I must 
give my oath according to my conscience." In vain 
Isabel tried to shake her resolution. Though sorely 
moved, Helen remained inflexible. Isabel was found 
guilty, and condemned to die. Without a moment's 
hesitation, Helen drew up a petition, setting forth the 
harrowing circumstances of the case ; and finding 
that six weeks must elapse before the sentence could 
be carried into effect, she left Dumfries that same 
night. Barefooted she commenced her journey, and 



PECULIARITIES OF FEMALE CHARACTER. 47 

reached London in the shortest possible time. With- 
out introduction or recommendation of any kind, 
she went at once to the house of her countryman the 
Duke of Argyle, and managed to obtain an interview 
with him. She entered wrapped in her Scotch plaid, 
and the statement of her sister's unhappy case in her 
hand. If she had lost heart at this critical moment, 
and abandoned her purpose, Isabel's life would have 
been forfeited. But the heroic girl advanced her 
simple arguments with such convincing energy and 
bold determination, that the noble lord embraced her 
cause with all the warmth of a generous nature. His 
representations were favourably received, the pardon 
was consigned to her care, and Helen returned to 
Dumfries, still on foot, in time to save her sister's 
life. There are on record innumerable instances of 
tenacity of purpose displayed by females, but ren- 
dered so revolting by the details of unparalleled 
cruelty and superstition which accompanied them, 
that they are passed over here. It is consolation to 
know that, for those heroic women who remained 
" faithful unto death " is reserved the " crown of 
life," as an imperishable and eternal portion. 

MODESTY. 

What Pope said or sung was, we believe, a libel on 
the sex : 

" Most women have no character at all." 

At all events, we have never found it applicable to 
those whom we have had the honour of becoming 
acquainted with. Nevertheless, for the last hundred 
years our literature has been constantly hurling ana- 



48 MODEL WOMEN. 

themas at tlie instability of female virtue ; until even- 
the ladies themselves have been forced into the be- 
lief of it. " Frailty, thy name is woman," is a senti- 
ment in the mouth of every dissipated coxcomb. Yet 
despite the prevalent idea that the most virtuous 
woman may easily be made to fall, we venture to 
affirm that unchaste thoughts and everything which 
tends, even remotely, to impurity, is far less common 
among women than men. We know something about 
the disgusting details whereby the amount of our 
most dreadful moral scourge may be estimated ; and 
it only confirms us in our opinion that woman is 
more sinned against than sinning. Given one hun- 
dred young men, and ten hundred maidens, of the 
same age and station ; out of the former, at least fifty 
will run a coarse of sinful pleasure for a period; 
while out of the latter, not more than six; after 
many conflicts, prayers, and convulsive sobbings,, to 
which the others were strangers, will fall under the 
power of temptation. On which side then lies the 
frailty ? According to what is reckoned a moderate 
computation, for one abandoned woman there are 
one hundred licentious men, therefore there are more 
" frail " men than women, and consequently the 
proverb should be, " Frailty T thy name is man!" 
Nor is this all. It would seem that what is wrong 
in woman is not wrong in man. While the slightest 
laxity of conduct irrevocably injures the fame and 
worldly prospects of the former, the latter may lead 
a loose life with impunity. Society thinks that a 
young man will be all the better for " sowing his 
wild oats;" but unless his sister be as pure as Diana*, 
society will cast her off and leave her to drink the 



PECULTAKITIES OF FEMALE CHARACTEE. 49 

dregs of her damning course. Modesty is the 
sweetest charm of woman, and the richest gem of 
her honour. 



DISCERNMENT OF CHARACTER. 

Inherent character gushes out through every organ 
of the body and every avenue of the soul. Broad- 
built people love ease, are rather dull, and take good 
care of number one. In the nature of things, length 
of form facilitates action. Such are always in motion, 
speak too fast to be emphatic, and have no lazy 
bones in their body. Excitability ,is indicated by 
sharpness. From time immemorial a sharp nose has 
been considered a sign of a scolding disposition ; but 
it is equally so of intensity in the other feelings. In 
accordance with the general law that shape and 
character correspond, well-proportioned persons have 
not only harmony of features but well-balanced 
minds. Whereas those, some of whose features stand 
right out and others fall in, have ill-balanced charac- 
ters as well as an uneven appearance. Walking, 
laughing, the mode of shaking hands, and the into- 
nations of the voice, are all expressive of human 
peculiarities. In short, Nature compels all her pro- 
ductions to manifest character as diversified as 
correct. 

The art of judging of character from the external 
appearance, especially from the countenance, is 
founded upon the belief, which has long and generally 
prevailed, that there is an intimate connection be- 
tween the features and expression of the face and 
the qualities and habits of the mind. All are con- 

E 



50 MODEL WOMEN. 

scions of drawing conclusions in this way with more 
or less confidence, and of acting npon them, in the 
affairs of life to a certain extent. But women are 
generally allowed to excel in quick insight into 
character — to perceive motives at a glance — to be 
natural physiognomists : some of the greatest philo- 
sophers that ever lived, have been prepared to trust 
their first impressions. We find this rare and 
valuable sense — this short-hand reasoning — exempli- 
fied in the conversations and writings of ladies, pro- 
ducing, even in the absence of original genius or of 
profound penetration, a sense of perfect security, 
as we follow their gentle guidance. Indeed, they 
seem to read the characters of all they meet, and 
especially of the opposite sex, intuitively, and their 
verdict may be considered oracular and without 
appeal. 

" Ye'll no mind me, sir," said Mrs. Macgregor to 
Mr. Godwin the lawyer, in that touching story, " The 
Little Rift," which appeared in Good Words, for 1860, 
' but I mind ye weel, tho' lang it is syne ye made 
my bit will, and there's mony a line on your face thfc> 
day that wasna' there then. But oh, sir ! there's the 
same kindly glint o' the e'e still, and I never was 
mista'en in my reading o' ony man's face yet ; I hae 
just an awfu' insight. It was given me to see fra 
the very first, that the major was a dour man, dour ! 
dour ! " 

That Nature has instituted a science of physiognomy 
seems to us to be proclaimed by the very instincts, 
not only of humanity, but of the lower animals them- 
selves. Yet the attempt to raise the art of reading 
the countenance to the dignity of a practical science, 



PECULIAEITIES OF FEMALE CHARACTER. 51 

although, often made, has never yet been very suc- 
cessful. Delia Porta, a Neapolitan, instituted com- 
parisons between the physiognomies of human beings 
and of species of animals noted for the possession of 
peculiar qualities. This was afterwards carried fur- 
ther by Tischbein. Physiognomy was also eagerly 
prosecuted by Thomas Campanella ; and when his 
labours were nearly forgotten, attention was again 
strongly directed to it by the writings of Lavater. 
But although most other sciences are insignificant 
compared with this, the majority of men can hardly 
be said to know the alphabet of human nature. 
Woman in her perceptions of grace, propriety, ridi- 
cule — her power of detecting artifice, hypocrisy, and 
affection — is, beyond all doubt, his superior. It is 
wonderful how often, in nicely balanced cases, when 
we appeal to the judgment of a woman, how instantly 
she decides the question for us, and how generally 
she is right. 

PIETY. 

There is a passage in the book Ecclesiastes, 
which that contemptible class of men — the satirists 
of the female sex — have delighted to quote and mis- 
apply. " One man among a thousand have I found, 
but a woman amongst all these have I not found." 
Solomon did not mean that there were fewer good 
women than good men in the world. This reference 
was to the members of that royal household ; and 
judging from that class of women with whom un- 
happily he associated, we do not wonder at the 
experience he left on record. The wisest of men did 
not mean, as a satirist, to libel one half of the human 

e 2 



?>2 MODEL WOMEK. 

race, but as a penitent to admonish others against 
the snares into which be bad fallen. It cannot be 
donbted that there are far more pious women in every 
quarter of the globe than pious men. 

The benign and benevolent religion of Jesus, inde- 
pendent of its spiritual attractions, met perhaps with 
a kindlier welcome from woman, on account of her 
constitutional sympathies, which are more in harmony 
with its messages of mercy and its designs of love 
than those of man. It came to purify the springs of 
domestic life, — and for such work woman was always 
ready; to wrap the bandage round the broken 
heart; — and for that kind office woman was always 
prepared ; to heal the sick, — and woman was minis- 
tering at their couches ; to throw open the gates of 
immortality to the dying, — and woman was tending 
their pillows. " I have ofttimes noted," says Luther, 
" when women receive the doctrine of the gospel, 
they are far more fervent in faith, they hold to it 
more stiff and fast than men do ; as we see in the 
loving Magdalene, who was more hearty and bold 
than Peter." The eminent Dr. Doddridge, was of 
opinion that in the sight of God they constituted 
decidedly the better half of the human race. The 
celebrated President Edwards considered the pro- 
portion within the limits of his observation as at 
least two to one. While Professor Dwight says, 
"women are naturally more religious than men." 
On a retrospect of their ministry, we believe most 
divines will find that they have been doubly useful 
among the female sex, and have admitted twice as 
many of them as of their own sex into the fellowship 
of the Church. Not one female can be numbered 



PECULIARITIES OF FEMALE CHARACTER. 53 

amongst Christ's enemies. Even Pilate's wife ad- 
vised her husband to refrain from taking any part in 
injuring "the just Person." When tempted unspar- 
ingly to condemn woman because through her came 
ruin, let us remember that by her came also redemp- 
tion. 

Need we add that in numerous instances they have 
been eminently useful members of the Church. They 
were so in the apostolic age, and hence Paul makes 
honourable mention of the names of Phebe, Priscilla, 
and Mary, in his epistle to the Romans. Perhaps then, 
as now, many would have sneered at these women 
toiling on in works of usefulness ; not a few, perhaps, 
misrepresented them, but Paul commended them. 
What a blessing was this ! Better the sympathy of 
one noble soul, than the hosannas of thoughtless 
millions. It is clear from the New Testament, that 
in the Apostolic Church there was an order of 
women known as deaconesses, whose work was to 
minister to the necessities of the saints and to teach 
other women. We see no reason for the discontinu- 
ance of these officers. Those who think they are not 
needed now, see with very different eyes from us. 

During the entire Christian era, the piety of woman 
has shone conspicuous. With equal truth and beauty 
the poet sang :— 

" Peruse the sacred volume : Him who died, 
Her kiss betrayed not, nor her tongue denied ; 
While e'en the apostles left Him to His doom, 
She lingered round His cross, and watched His tomb." 

Piety is still woman's brightest ornament and surest 
defence. It heightens all her other attractions, and it 



54 MODEL WOMEN. 

will remain when all others have faded. Even those 
who are indifferent and hostile to religion themselves 
commend it ; all good men approve it ; it attracts 
the favonr of God Himself. It has opened the eyes of 
thousands to the higher walks of Christian life, and 
impelled tens of thousands to press for the mark. 
The annals of missionary enterprise already supply 
some of the loftiest instances of zeal and devotedness 
from among the female sex. To quote from Good 
Words, for 1860 : " Wherever there has been any 
purity, any zeal, any activity, any prosperity in the 
Church of Christ, there woman's presence and aid, as 
' a help meet for '..the other sex, while they have been 
bearing the heat and burden of the day, will be found 
no unimportant element. It is so at this day in an 
eminent degree. Nor do I at all doubt that in the 
Church's further efforts to carry the gospel into 
all lands, and get for their Lord the sceptre of the 
world, the spirit and mind of our Galilean women will 
be more and more seen stamped upon Christian 
womanhood." But as Keble sweetly sings, some of 
the most beautiful specimens of female Christianity 
will never be heard of till the resurrection morn. 

" Unseen, unfelt, their earthly growth, 
And, self-accused of sin and sloth, 
They live and die ; their names decay, 
Their fragrance passes quite away ; 
Like violets in the freezing blast, 
No vernal gleam around they cast : 
But they shall flourish from the tomb, 
The breath of God shall wake them into odorous bloom." 



CHAPTER III. 



SECTION I.— SUSANNA WESLEY. 

11 She was an admirable woman, of highly improved mind, and 
of a strong and masculine understanding ; an obedient wife ; an 
exemplary mother ; a fervent Christian." 

EOBEET SOUTHEY. 



WOMAN 7 S SPHERE. 

Home is woman's most appropriate sphere, and it is 
there that her influence is most powerfully felt. Per- 
haps the three most beautiful, musical, and suggestive 
words in the English language are love, home, and 
mother; and in these three words is comprehended 
all the history of a perfect woman. It is woman 
indeed, that makes home, and upon her depends 
whether home shall be attractive or repulsive — happy 
or miserable. We cannot urge too strongly the forma- 
tion of domestic habits. The lack of them is one 
of the greatest drawbacks in family life. Many 
young women are incompetent to fulfil rightly these 
claims, hence their homes become scenes of disorder, 
filth, and wretchedness, and their husbands are 
tempted to spend their evenings in the beer-house, 
the gin palace, or places of public amusement. Were 
your education different from what it is, we doubt not 



56 MODEL WOMEN. 

you would soon prove your fitness for many things 
from which you are at present debarred ; but that 
would not alter the fact that your nature qualifies 
you specially for the performance of home duties. 
Nor is domestic work of small importance. The 
woman who shall try to do it rightly is attempting 
something far greater than those achievements which 
the trump of fame would blazon abroad. The train- 
ing of young immortals for an everlasting destiny, 
is nobler employment than framing laws, painting 
cartoons, or writing poems. It is well only with the 
people in general, in proportion as household duty 
and religion are taught and practised. From that 
sacred place go forth the senator and the philosopher, 
the philanthropist and the missionary, to form the 
future nation. Home is the proper sphere of woman's 
usefulness. There she may be a queen, and accom- 
plish vastly more for the well-being of humanity than 
in the popular assembly. King Lemuel, in describ- 
ing a virtuous woman, says, " She looketh well to 
the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of 
idleness :" industry and economy go hand in hand. 

BIOGRAPHY. 

" How many children has Dr. Annesley ?" said a 
friend to Thomas Manton, who had just dedicated 
one more to the Lord in the holy sacrament of baptism. 
" I believe it is two dozen, or a quarter of a hundred," 
was the startling reply. Some of these withered like 
early spring flowers ; others bloomed into youthful 
beauty ; and a few developed into mature life. Susanna 
was the youngest. She was born in Spital Yard, near 



DOMESTIC WOMEN. 57 

Bishopsgate Street, on the 20th January, 1669. Her 
father, at no small cost of feeling, and at a sacrifice 
of £700 a year, refused to declare his unfeigned assent 
to all that was contained in the Book of Common 
Prayer. His nonconformity caused him many out- 
ward troubles, but no inward uneasiness. He was 
a man of marked prominence, and a very prince in 
the tribe to which he belonged. But who was 
Susanna Annesley's mother ? The daughter of John 
White, the eminent lawyer and earnest Puritan, a 
member of the House of Commons in 1640. The 
following curious epitaph was written on his tomb- 
stone : — 

" Here lies a John, a burning, shining light, 
Whose name, life, actions, all alike were White." 

We should like to know something of the place and 
mode of her education. But whether she was sent to 
school or trained at home by tutors, an eider sister or 
her good mother, we know not. It has been said that 
she was well acquainted with the languages of ancient 
Greece and Rome. That we believe to be a mistake. 
But if she was not a classical scholar, she had a 
respectable knowledge of French ; prosecuted as one 
of her chiefest studies, the noble literature and tongue 
of Britain ; and wrote with marvellous neatness and 
grammatical accuracy. While careful to strengthen 
her mind by such abstruse studies as logic and meta- 
physics, she was not neglectful of accomplishments. 
Whether she could stir the depths of feeling by her 
skilful performances on the piano, we know not ; but 
there is ample evidence that she was not destitute of 
the gift of song. 



58 MODEL WOMEN. 

With. Susanna Annesley, the dawn of grace was 
like the dawn of day. In after-years she wrote : — 
"" I do not judge it necessary to know the precise time 
of our conversion." The seed of truth took root 
imperceptibly, and ultimately brought forth fruit. 
As she advanced in years, she increased in spirituality. 
Hear her own words : — " I will tell you what rule I 
observed in the same case when I was young and 
too much addicted to childish diversions, which was 
this, — never to spend more time in any matter of 
mere recreation in one day, than I spend in private 
religious duties." This one passage explains the 
secret of her noble life. 

Good books she recognised among the mercies of 
her childhood. No doubt they related mainly to ex- 
perimental and practical religion, and were written by 
such men as John Bunyan, Jeremy Taylor, and the 
early puritans. Socinianism was not uncommon in 
those times, and Susanna Annesley's faith in the lead- 
ing doctrines of the gospel was shaken. Happily, 
Samuel "Wesley, most likely her affianced husband, 
was an adept in that controversy, and he came to her 
rescue. Her theological views became thoroughly 
established, and her writings contain admirable de- 
fences of the Holy Trinity, the Godhead and atonement 
of the Lord Jesus, and the Divine personality and 
work of the Eternal Spirit. Discussions on Church 
government ran high. Conformity and nonconformity 
were pitted again st each other, and championed by 
the ablest of their sons. The din of controversy reached 
her father's house, and she began to examine the 
question of State churches before she was thirteen. 
The result was, that she renounced her ecclesiastical 



DOMESTIC WOMEN. 59 

creed, and attached herself to the communion of the 
established Church. Samuel Wesley's attention was 
directed to that subject at the same time, and the 
change in their opinions seems to have been contem- 
poraneous. 

Behold her now, at the age of nineteen, " a zealous 
Church- woman, yet rich in the dowry of nonconform- 
ing virtues ;" and over all, as her brightest adorning, 
the " beauty of holiness," clothing her with salvation 
as with a garment. 

" Not perfect, nay, but full of tender wants ; 
No angel, but a dearer being, all dipt 
In angel instincts, breathing paradise." 

She was a maiden worthy of the most princely spirit 
that might woo her hand and win her heart; and 
such Providence had in store for her, in the noble- 
hearted and intelligent Samuel Wesley. Probably 
late in 1689, or early in 1690, accompanied by " the 
virgins, her companions," she went forth out of Spital 
Yard, decked in bridal attire, and was united in holy 
matrimony to the Rev. Samuel Wesley, according to 
the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England. 
Her husband was a curate, on only £30 a year. 
They " boarded " in London and the neighbourhood, 
"without going into debt." In the course of a few 
months, Mr. Wesley received his first preferment in 
the Church. Upon £50 a year, and one child addi- 
tional per annum, his thrifty wife managed to make 
the ends meet. After existing seven long years in 
the miserable rectory of South Ormsby, the rector- 
ship of Epworth, valued at £200 per annum, was 
conferred upon the Rev. Samuel Wesley. The 



60 MODEL WOMEN. 

town is a place of deep interest to two religions 
denominations. There the fonnder of Methodism 
and the planter of its earliest offshoot were born, 
and in the old parish chnrch they were both dedicated 
to Grod. One wonld almost imagine that devouring 
fire was the rector of Epworth's adverse element. 
Scarcely had he and his noble wife taken possession 
of the new home, when a third of the building was 
burnt to the ground. Within twelve months after, 
the entire growth of flax, intended to satisfy hungry 
creditors, was consumed in the field; and in 1709 the 
rectory was utterly destroyed by fire. If the number 
and bitterness of a man's foes be any gauge of his real 
influence, then the Rector of Ep worth must have been 
the greatest power in the isle. The consequences of 
carrying out his sincere convictions regarding things 
secular and sacred were terrible. The conflagration, 
involving all but the temporal ruin of the Wesley 
family, was the work of some malicious person or 
persons unknown. Instead of appreciating his eminent 
abilities and scholarly attainments, his brutal parish- 
ioners insulted him in every possible way, His friends 
advised him to leave, but he resolutely disregarded 
their counsel. " I confess I am not of that mind," he 
writes to the Archbishop of York, " because I may do 
some good there : and 'tis like a coward to desert my 
post because the enemy fire thick upon me." Two of 
his most violent enemies were cut off in the midst of 
their sins, and in these events Mrs. Wesley saw the 
avenging hand of Him who hath said, " Touch not 
mine anointed, and do my prophets no harih," 

For nearly forty years the Rector of Epworth sowed 
with unfaltering hand, and saw no fruit. But ere he 



DOMESTIC WOMEN. 61 

departed, the autumn came. He saw " the full corn 
in the ear," and a few patches of the golden harvest 
ready for the reaper's sickle. A new generation 
widely different from their fathers, had grown up 
around him, and in the midst of their tenderest sym- 
pathy he passed the quiet evening of life. Memorable 
sentences were ever and anon dropping from his ready 
pen, indicating that he was looking for the coming 
crisis. On the 25th of April, 1735, just as the golden 
beams of that day shot their last glances upon the old 
parsonage, so eventful in domestic vicissitudes, the 
sun of the rector completed its circuit, and sank be- 
hind the western hills of old age to shine in a brighter 
sky for evermore. 

When all was over, Mrs. Wesley was less shocked 
than her children expected. "Now I am heard," 
said she, calmly, "in his having so easy a death, and 
my being strengthened so to bear it." She, neverthe- 
less, felt deeply her lone and lorn situation. Epworth 
had been no paradise of unmixed delight to her. The 
serpent had often lurked among its flowers ; poverty, 
like an armed man, had frequently stood at the gate, 
and sometimes crossed the threshold, and death had 
many a time entered the dwelling ; but, as in widow's 
weeds and sable dress, she left the dear old spot, never 
more to return, 

" Some natural tears she dropped, but dried them soon." 

After spending some months with her daughter in 
the neighbouring town of Gainsborough, Mrs. Wesley 
went, in September, 1736, to reside with her eldest 
son, at Tiverton, where she remained until July, 1737. 
Thence she removed to Wootton, Wiltshire, where 



62 MODEL WOMEN. 

Mr. Hall, who had married her daughter Martha, was 
curate. In the course of a few months, Mr. and Mrs. 
Hall removed to Salisbury, and Mrs. Wesley accom- 
panied them to that ancient cathedral city. In the 
spring of 1739, she returned to the place of her birth, 
and there spent the remainder of her days. Fifty 
years before, in the bloom of early womanhood, she 
had left the mighty metropolis, to share in the joys 
and sorrows of a minister's wife. Then, her father, 
mother, sisters, and brothers were all alive ; now, all 
were numbered with the dead. The mother of the 
Wesleys herself was waiting, as in the land of Beulah, 
for the call, " Come ye up hither." Her closing hours 
afforded ample evidence of a triumphant death. On 
the 23rd July, 1742, the founder of Methodism wrote 
in his journal — " Her look was calm and serene, and 
her eyes fixed upward, while we commended her soul 
to God. From three to four, the silver cord was 
loosening, the wheel breaking at the cistern, and then, 
without any struggle or sigh or groan, the soul was 
set at liberty." Her distinguished son and all her 
surviving daughters stood round the bed, and fulfilled 
her last request : " Children, as soon as I am released, 
sing a psalm of praise to God." Some of those strains 
afterwards written by the dying widow's minstrel son, 
would have been most appropriate. 

In the presence of an almost innumerable company 
of people, John, with faltering voice, conducted her 
funeral ceremonies. As soon as the service was over, 
he stood up and preached a sermon over her open 
grave, selecting as his text Rev. xx. 11, 12. That 
sermon was never published. "But," says the 
preacher, " it was one of the most solemn assemblies 



DOMESTIC WOMEN. 63 

I ever saw, or expect to see on this side eternity r " 
" Forsaking nonconformity in early life," says her 
biographer, "and maintaining for many years a devont 
and earnest discipleship in the Established Church, 
which, in theory she never renounces, in the two last 
years of her life she becomes a practical nonconform- 
ist, in attending the ministry and services of her sons 
in a separate and unconsecrated ' conventicle/ The 
two ends of her earthly life, separated by so wide an 
interval, in a certain sense embrace and kiss each 
other. Rocked in a nonconformist cradle, she now 
sleeps in a nonconformist grave." There, in Bunhill- 
fields burying- ground, near the dust of Bunyan, the 
immortal dreamer; of Watts, the poet of the sanctuary; 
De Foe, the champion of nonconformity; and of many 
of her father's associates, her mortal remains await 
the "times of the restitution of all things." A plain 
stone with a suitable inscription stands at the head 
of her grave. 

A NOBLE WIFE. 

A true wife, like the grace of Gi-od, is given, not 
bought. "Her price is far above rubies;" and, 
" the heart of her husband doth safely trust in her." 
Such a wife was Mrs. Wesley. In early life she did 
not disdain to study the minute details of domestic 
economy, hence she took her proper place at once in 
the parsonage at Bpworth — managed a large house- 
hold on very inadequate means — while her love for 
her husband, and regard for the welfare of her child- 
ren, constrained her to use wisely and well the in- 
come entrusted to her control. Her husband laid his 
purse in her lap, assured that the comfort and respon- 



64 MODEL WOMEN. 

sibility of his house and the interest of his property- 
were in safe keeping. After the disastrous fire, in 
regard to everything save their eight children, Mr. 
and Mrs. Wesley were about as poor as Adam and 
Eve when they v first set up housekeeping. Thirteen 
years after that sad event, a wealthy relative was 
" strangely scandalised at the poverty of the furni- 
ture, and much more so at the meanness of the child- 
ren's habit." The rector's incarceration for a paltry 
debt of less than £30, before his friends could come 
to his rescue, was the heaviest trial of the heroic 
Mrs. Wesley. What little jewellery she had, includ- 
ing her marriage ring, she sent for his relief; but 
God provided for him in another way. " Tell me, 
Mrs. Wesley," said good Archbishop Sharp, " whether 
you ever really wanted bread." "My lord," re- 
plied the noble woman, " I will freely own to your 
Grace that, strictly speaking, I never did want bread. 
But then, I had so much care to get it before it was 
eat, and to pay for it after, as has often made it very 
unpleasant to me ; and I think to have bread on such 
terms is the next degree of wretchedness to having 
none at all." "You are certainly in the right," re- 
plied his lordship, and made her a handsome present, 
which she had "reason to believe afforded him com- 
fortable reflections before his exit." 

It is certain that the Wesley family lived a life of 
genteel starvation. The worldly circumstances of the 
clergy are better now. Curates have £100. South 
Ormsby is worth more than £250 ; and the rector- 
ship of Epworth is now upwards of £900. But 
even in our days, the common tradesman exceeds 
many clergymen of the Church of England, and min- 



DOMESTIC WOMEN. 65 

isters of other Churches, in his command of real com- 
fort and substantial independence. The former is 
respectable in moleskin, but the latter must have 
broad- cloth. This state of matters is intolerable, 
grossly unjust, and fearfully oppressive — a wrong 
done not to pastors only, but to society at large ; 
whose interest suffers through theirs. England lodges 
in palaces and clothes her nobles, bishops, and mer- 
chants in purple ; while she leaves many of the most 
pious and laborious ministers of Christ to be fed by 
the hand of charity, and clothed in the garments 
which respectability can no longer wear! What a 
reproach ! When shall it be wiped away ? 

Between persons of so much decision and firmness 
as Mrs. Wesley and her husband, no doubt differences 
of opinion arose. But they were neither serious nor 
of long duration. The story about a protracted 
breach caused by the diversity of their sentiments 
concerning the revolution of 1688, if it have any 
foundation in fact, is grossly exaggerated in its de- 
tails. Samuel Wesley and Susanna Annesley were 
drawn to each other by love and reverence ; and if 
you want to see a marriage noble in every way, you 
must go to the rectory at Epworth where this couple 
lived. Their entire married life is one of the sweetest, 
tenderest, and noblest on record. Mrs. Wesley was 
always ready to stand by the rector. "Old as I am," 
she writes, " since I have taken my husband ' for better 
for worse,' I'll take my residence with him. Where 
he lives, will I live ; where he dies, will I die ; and 
there will we be buried. God do so to me, and more 
also, if aught but death part him and me." These 
strong feelings of attachment were reciprocated by 



66 MODEL WOMEN. 

Mr. Wesley. " The more duty you pay her," he writes 
to his son Samuel, " and the more frequently and 
kindly you write to her, the more you will please 
your affectionate father." His picture of a good 
wife is an ideal description of the blessed yirgin ; but 
there is reason to believe that the original from 
which it was drawn was the rector's own wife. 

A GOOD MOTHER. 
Who can over-estimate a woman's worth in the 
relation of mother ? The great Napoleon said : " A 
man is what his mother makes him." Is there not 
much truth in the statement ? The tender plant may 
be trained by the maternal hand for good or evil, 
weal or woe. John Randolph, the statesman, re- 
marked : " I should have been a French atheist if it 
had not been for one recollection, and that was, the 
memory of the time when my departed mother used 
to take my little hands in hers, and cause me on my 
knees to say, ' Our Father, who art in heaven.' ' 
Providence blessed Mrs. Wesley with a large family. 
She was the mother of nineteen children, most of 
whom lived to be educated, and ten came to man's 
and woman's estate. Her heart was deeply wrung by 
bereavements, probably at intervals too short to allow 
the wounds to heal ; but the desolateness of her spirit 
was broken in upon by the faith that the departed 
were well, and that the mourner would go to them. 

"Oh, when the mother meets on high 
The babe she lost in infancy, 

Has she not then for griefs and fears — 
The day of woe the watchful night, — 

For all her sorrows, all her fears, — 
An overpayment of delight ?" 



DOMESTIC WOMEN. 67 

While Mrs. Wesley, like every good mother, thanked 
God for gladdening the earth with little children, she 
knew that they were sent for another purpose than 
merely to keep up the population. That a family so 
numerous, and composed of characters so powerfully 
constituted as the Wesleys, should grow up from 
childhood to maturity without their domestic dis- 
quietudes, would he beyond the range of probability. 
There were trials deep and heavy, but as far as we 
can judge, the family of the Epworth parsonage are 
now collected in the many-mansioned house above. A 
mother's influence is the first cord of nature, and the 
last of memory. She who rocks the cradle, rules the 
world. A generation of mothers like Mrs. Wesley, 
would do more for the regeneration of society, than 
all our Sunday-schools, day-schools, refuges, reforma- 
tories, home missions, and ragged kirks put together. 

HOME EDUCATION. 
The code of laws laid down by Mrs. Wesley for 
the education of her children was about perfect. We 
can do little more than suggest some of the main prin- 
ciples upon which she acted in the discharge of this 
important duty. No sooner were her children born than 
their infant lives were regulated by method. True she 
delayed their literary education until they were five 
years old, but from their birth they were made to feel 
the power of her training hand; and before they 
could utter a word they were made to feel that there 
was a God. Some parents talk of beginning the 
education of their children. Every child's education 
begins the moment it is capable of forming an idea, 
and it goes on like time itself, without any holidays. 

f 2 



68 MODEL WOMEN. 

She aimed at the education of all their mental and 
bodily powers. The sleep, food, and even crying of 
her chi]dren was regulated. Her son John informs 
us, that she even taught them as infants to cry softly. 
One of the most difficult problems of education is, to 
form a child to obedience without making it servile. 
The will is the key of the active being, and in a great 
measure the key of the receptive too. Along with 
the inclinations, its purveyors and assessors, it must 
be the earliest subject of discipline. Without sub- 
jecting the will you can do nothing. On this subject 
we believe the views of Mrs. Wesley to be equally 
just and propound — to lie at the very foundation of 
the philosophy of education. " In order to form the 
minds of children," she writes, " the first thing to be 
done is, to conquer their will, and bring them to an 
obedient temper. To inform the understanding is 
a work of time, and must with children proceed by 
slow degrees, as they are able to bear it. But the 
subjecting of the will is a thing that must be 
done at once, and the sooner the better. For by neg- 
lecting timely correction, they contract a stubbornness 
and obstinacy which are hardly ever conquered, and 
never without using such severity as is painful to 
me, as well as the child." But education is some- 
thing more than the teaching of proper obedience ; 
hence she developed their physical powers, stored 
their intellects, cultured their tastes, and disciplined 
their consciences. God blessed Mrs. Wesley with 
signal ability for teaching ; and even had the pe- 
cuniary circumstances of the family not compelled 
her to undertake the literary instruction of her child- 
ren ; she would have felt that their religious educa- 



DOMESTIC WOMEN. 69 

tion was her special charge, and that the solemn re- 
sponsibility could not be delegated to another. She 
was the sole instructress of her daughters. Her 
work was arduous, but she encouraged herself with 
the faith that He who made her a mother had placed 
in her hands the key to the recesses of the hearts of 
her offspring ; and that the great part of family care 
and government consisted in the right education of 
children. 



RELATION TO METHODISM. 

Never has a century risen on Christian England so 
void of soul and faith as the seventeeth. Profligacy 
and vice everywhere prevailed, and the moral vir- 
tues of the nation were at their last gasp. God had 
witnesses — men of learning, ability, and piety : but 
they won no national influence. Methodism was the 
great event of the eighteenth century. For several 
generations there had been at work powerful influen^- 
ces in the ancestry of its appointed founders, which 
look like providential preparations. In the history 
of John Westley, of Whitchurch, we find a beautiful 
pre- shadowing of the principles more extensively em- 
bodied in the early Methodist preachers whom the 
illustrious grandson who bore his name associated 
with himself in that glorious revival. The rector of 
Epworth, looked favourably upon what the church- 
men of his day regarded as unjustifiable irregularities, 
and published an eloquent defence of those religious 
societies which existed at the time. The religious 
pedigree, so evident in the paternal ancestry, 
was no less observable in the mother of the founder 



70 MODEL WOMEN. 

of Methodism. Maternal influence exerted over John 
Wesley and his brothers an all bat sovereign control. 
His mental perplexities, his religions donbts and emo- 
tions were all submitted to the judgment and decision 
of his mother. When Thomas Maxfield began to 
preach, Wesley hurried to London to stop him. The 
opinion of his mother was unmistakable, and led to 
important consequences. " John, you know what my 
sentiments have been. You cannot suspect me of 
favouring readily anything of this kind. But take 
care what you do with respect to that young man ; 
for he is as surely called of God to preach as you are. 
Examine what have been the fruits of his preaching, 
and hear him for yourself." In estimating this re- 
markable woman's relation to Methodism, we must not 
forget that during the different times of her husband's 
absence, she read prayers and sermons, and engaged in 
religious conversation with her own family, and any 
of the parishioners who came in accidentally. What 
was this, but a glorious Methodist irregularity ? How 
significant are the words of Isaac Taylor : " The 
Wesleys' mother was the mother of Methodism in a 
religious and moral sense ; for, her courage, her sub- 
missiveness to authority, the high tone of her mind, 
its independence, and its self-control, the warmth of 
her devotional feelings and the practical direction 
given to them, — came up, and were visibly repeated in 
the character and conduct of her sons." 



DOMESTIC WOMEN. 71 

CHARACTER OF MRS WESLEY, 

She had a strong and vigorous intellect. The 
variety of subjects discussed in her letters is* not more 
astonishing than the ability with which they are all 
treated. Predestination is one of the topics ; the 
lawfulness of enjoyment another ; and even love 
forms the theme of one admirable letter, which Dr. 
Adam Clarke says, " would be a gem even in the best 
written treatise on the powers and passions of the 
human mind." Her temperament was thoughtful 
and reflective ; her judgment when once fixed, was 
immovable. At the same time she was refined, 
methodical, highly bred, and imparted these qualities 
to all her children. 

Perhaps the most remarkable feature in the cha- 
racter of this distinguished woman was its moral 
grandeur. The holy vigilance and resolute control 
which she exercised over herself, meet us at every 
turn of her life. She held her mouth as with a bridle, 
lest she should offend with her tongue. " It always 
argues a base and cowardly temper to whisper se- 
cretly what you dare not speak to a man's face. 
Therefore be careful to avoid all evil- speaking, and 
be ever sure to obey that command of our Saviour in 
this case as well as others, — l Whatsoever ye would 
that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto 
them."' The same vigilant government was exercised 
over all her appetites and passions. She believed 
that " any passion in excess does as certainly inebriate 
as the strongest liquor immoderately taken." Such 
is a specimen of the golden rules which were 
sacredly observed by Susanna Wesley. 



72 MODEL WOMEN. 

As regards personal appearance, the mother of the 
Wesleys seems to have been inferior to her sisters. 
They possessed fair claims to be called beautiful ; she 
was a graceful and noble English lady, but not 
strikingly beautiful. Mr. Kirk, her biographer in- 
forms us that there are two portraits of Mrs. Wes- 
ley, just now claiming to be genuine : the one taken 
in early life, the other in old age ; but neither of 
them conveys the idea of the elegant lady dressd a la 
mode. Her figure was probably slight; and her 
stature about the average female height. 



SECTION II— ELIZA HESSEL. 

" To the common-place but important qualification for domes- 
tic duties, she added literary culture, and a character adorned 
with Christian virtues." Joshua Peiestley. 



WOMAN'S MISSION. 

We live in an age of novelty, — new plans, new dis- 
coveries, new opinions, are common enough. Many 
of these relate to woman, whose importance in the 
scale of humanity, no rational being, above all no 
Christian, can doubt. We are anxious that women 
should be roused to a sense of their own importance 
and responsibility; assured that if they understood 
these, surprising changes would immediately take place 
in society, giving it a higher tone and a purer spirit. 
For them we claim no less exalted a mission than that 
of instruments for the regeneration of the world, — 
restorers of God's image to the human soul. This mis- 



DOMESTIC WOMEN. 73 

sion they will best accomplish by moving in the circle 
which God and nature have appointed them. "We look 
forward to the time, not perhaps so remote, when 
women shall cease to be employed in those works — 
rough, hard, toilsome, exhausting works — in which 
many are now engaged. The time will come, when 
capital and labour shall have become so reconciled one 
to another as that men may do the work of men, and 
women may be spared that work in order that they 
may the more fully preside over the work of the 
household. Then there will be more refinement of 
manner, more enjoyment of soul, more enlargement 
of the intellect, and more cultivation of the heart. 
If circumstances permit, an ambition to excel in 
everything that comes within woman's domain is 
laudable ; but if not, then do not think too much of 
having to forego accomplishments, in order to acquire 
useful, every-day attainments. The former may add 
to the luxuries of life ; the latter is essential to the 
happiness of home — to the joys and endearments of a 
family, to the affection of relations, to the fidelity of 
domestics. "Woman's mission" has become almost 
a phrase of the day. That there are other duties 
for women besides household, and for some women 
especially, we by no means deny. But here are the 
broad, general, and permanent duties of the sex. 
IC On home's high duties be your thoughts employed ; 
Leave to the world its strivings and its void." 

Real worth will in the long run far outweigh all 
accomplishments. 

" It is not beauty, wealth, or fame, 

That can endear a dying name 

And write it on the heart ; 



MODEL WOMEN. 

'Tis humble worth, 'tis duty done, 
A course with cheerful patience run- 
By these the faithful sigh is won, 
The warm tear made to start." 



BIOGRAPHY. 

Eliza Hessel was born at Catterton, near Tadcaster, 
on April 10th, 1829. Her father Benjamin Hessel, 
was a man of great mental and moral excellence, a 
worthy descendant of ancestors who hjad occupied 
a farm at Althorp, in the neighbour ood of How- 
den, for about five hundred years. The mother, 
Hannah Hessel, was a genuine Christian, born of 
parents who bravely shared the reproach which 
assailed the early Methodists. The whole family of 
this noble couple — two sons and three daughters, 
became truly pious. Both sons were called to the 
Christian ministry. The elder went down to his 
grave at the early age of twenty-four, lamented 
by many to whom he had been a blessing ; and the 
younger at present occupies one of the most import- 
ant positions of the Wesleyan Church in Australia. 
From infancy Eliza Hessel was the subject of the 
strivings of the Spirit. We have abundance of facts, 
to enable us to form a sufficiently accurate estimate of 
the influences operating upon her early years, and 
the peculiarities of her mental and moral nature. At 
this period she might have often been seen wandering 
alone wrapt in deep thought. What are the stars ? 
How could the Almighty always have existed ? Why 
was sin permitted to enter into the world ? Such were 
the questions on which her young brain ruminated. 
An eager thirst for knowledge was associated with 






DOMESTIC WOMEN. 75 

intense susceptibility. The sigli of the storm was to 
her celestial music. "Judge," says her biographer, 
" of a girl of sixteen pacing the long garden walks 
in the cold moonlight, sitting down on the ground, 
and clasping her hands, uttering in a voice of such 
passionate earnestness as even startled herself: ' I 
would gladly die this moment to solve that problem.' 
That girl could be no cipher in the world. She could 
be no mere unit. For good or evil, she was destined 
to exert considerable influence." 

In August 1842, her eldest sister, Mary Ann, be- 
came the wife of the Rev. Thomas Brumwell, a Wes- 
leyan minister, and it was arranged that Eliza should 
spend a few months with the newly wedded pair at 
Melton Mowbray. On reviewing this period, three 
years after, she writes: "I have sat poring over 
works of history, and more frequently of fiction, till 
my aching eye-balls have refused their office ; the 
solemn tones of the midnight bell, and occasionally, 
the light chimes of the third hour of morning have 
warned me to my little couch, while strange visions of 
enchanted castles, rocking images, ominous sounds, 
and wild apparitions, have disturbed my feverish 
repose, and unfitted me for the active duties of life. 
Oh, these are 'painful reminiscences /" She remained 
at Melton Mowbray about ten months, and after 
having benefited by the educational advantages at 
Tadcaster, entered Miss Hinders' boarding-school at 
Leeds, in January, 1845. That lady relates this por- 
tion of Eliza's school-days thus : — " I remember dis- 
tinctly the morning she was introduced into the school- 
room. Little did I then think what an influence the 
new comer would acquire over my own mind and 



76 MODEL WOMEN. 

heart. She was shy and reserved at first, but sus- 
ceptible of any advance towards friendliness, and 
eager to reciprocate the least kindness. It was not 
long before her position amongst us became clearly 
defined. Being one of the tallest girls, a degree of 
freedom was at once awarded her, but her mind soon 
asserted a superior claim. She was a most earnest 
and successful student ; and it became a privilege to 
be admitted into her little coterie of inquirers after 
knowledge. At her suggestion, three or four of us rose 
at five o'clock every morning, and met in the library to 
read. The books chosen were generally such as aided 
in our after- studies. Sometimes they yielded more 
pleasure than profit, but the recollection of those morn- 
ing meetings is very pleasant. During our walks, too, 
we read together, or when books were forbidden, 
Eliza was never at a loss for some topic of discussion. 
A flower, or an insect, often supplied us with a theme. 
Anything in nature called forth her deepest sym- 
pathies, and made her eloquent. She told me what 
a wild delight she used to feel, when a mere child, 
amidst the scenes of nature, rambling at her own 
sweet will for hours together with no companions but 
the bee and butterfly. The love of the beautiful be- 
came more intense as she grew older, and you will 
not wonder that she had also a decided tinge of the 
romantic at this time. Her young muse sung of deeds 
of daring, and the achievements of fame. She bowed 
at the shrine of genius, and made it almost her god." 
She had a strong ambition to excel, and when the 
monthly budget of anonymous maiden compositions 
were read, a smile of recognition might have been 
seen passing round the school- room, as Eliza's pieces 



DOMESTIC WOMEN. 77 

betrayed their authorship. In a letter to Miss Binders, 
she says, " I will tell you, dear Sarah, what were my 
reflections the first day I was at school. In the even- 
ing I sat down, and asked myself, i What have I learnt 
to-day ? ' The answer my heart gave somewhat 
startled me. It was this : I have to-day learnt the 
most important lesson I ever did learn ; that is, that 
I know nothing at alL' " 

Whilst Miss Hessel was basking in the sunshine at 
Leeds, a dark cloud was gathering on the domestic 
horizon. Consumption had seized her sister, Mrs. 
Brumwell. Fatal symptoms rapidly developed, and 
with the words, "Victory, victory, through the blood 
of the Lamb," upon her lips, she winged her way 
to the realms of the blessed. Two motherless boys, 
one only seven months old, and the other but two 
years, were now committed to the trust of Miss Hessel. 
Mr. Brumwell resided at Burton-on-Trent, and thither ? 
early in 1846, she repaired. Though she did not 
hide her repugnance to domestic duties, the dawn- 
ings of " a horror of undomesticated literary women" 
were already felt, and she determined to excel in this 
as in other departments. Apprehensions soon began 
to be entertained by Miss Hessel, that the disease 
which had already cut off a brother and a sister had 
marked her as its prey. Her lungs were pronounced 
free from disease, but sea air was recommended. She 
visited Scarborough, and after three weeks returned 
home with improved health. 

Her father's health had been for some time declin- 
ing, and in the autumn of 1847 the family left Catter- 
ton and removed to Boston Spa. Regret was naturally 
felt at quitting the old house, but in every respect 
the change was beneficial. 



78 MODEL WOMEN. 

October, 1849, brought a fatal domestic affliction. 
Mr. Hessel was suddenly seized with an illness which 
excluded all hope of recovery, and died November 
10th, aged sixty-seven years. This great loss was 
made up, as far as possible, by the filial and fraternal 
affection of her brother. He had been three years in 
the ministry, was now located in the Isle of Wight, 
and before the end of November his widowed mother 
and eldest sister were comfortably settled at Percy 
Cottage, Ventnor. Having visited Carisbrook Castle, 
the church of St. Lawrence (the smallest church in 
England,) the grave of " the Dairyman's Daughter, " 
and other interesting places, Miss Hessel returned to 
Boston Spa the following spring. Her brother had 
been delicate, and it was deemed desirable to try the 
effect of his native air. 

We now arrive at the period of Miss Hessel's con- 
version. The instruments were ministers in various 
parts of Scotland, who were persuaded they had re- 
ceived " new light " on several vital doctrines. Re- 
nouncing the limited views in which they had been 
trained, they vigorously advocated the impartially 
benignant and strictly universal love of the Father, 
atonement of the Son, and influence of the Spirit. 
In the spring of 1850, a number of these zealous men 
visited several northern counties of England. One 
of them, the Rev. George Dunn, preached at Boston 
Spa. By that sermon, together with a subsequent con- 
versation, Miss Hessel came to a knowledge of the 
truth as it is in Jesus. 

On the 12th March, 1851, her brother consummated 
an interesting engagement with a lady resident in 
Bristol, the new sphere of his ministerial duty, and 



DOMESTIC WOMEN. 79 

early in May Miss Hessel visited the bridal pair. How 
greatly she enjoyed that sojournment two brief sen- 
tences attest. They were written on September 13th, 
a few days before she left. " I have much to tell you 
of dear old Bristol, the city of the west, and its noble 
children. God bless them for the love and heart- 
warm kindness they have shown to a stranger and 
sojourner within their walls." 

Miss Hessel had not much time for the acquisition 
of knowledge. Her large circle of friends entailed a 
large correspondence. The value placed upon her 
society involved the consumption of much time. She 
gave a large amount of service to her own religious 
community, and often assisted efforts in distant places 
to promote the general welfare of humanity. Never- 
theless, being possessed of strong intellectual tastes, 
and lively poetical sensibility, her mental powers were 
seldom at rest. We find her holding communion with 
Martin's celebrated pictures, " The Last Judgment," 
"The Plains of Heaven," and "The Great Day of 
Wrath," admiring the early spring flowers, and the 
glowing tints of the- autumnal trees. Her poetical 
compositions were numerous, some of them of con- 
siderable merit, and her reading was multifarious. 
Every department of literature was laid under tribute. 
She could discover the gems, and point out the he- 
terodox opinions in Alexander Smith's " Life Drama; " 
revel beyond measure in the " Life of Dr. Chalmers ;" 
grow sad over " Talfourd's Final Memorials of Charles 
Lamb ;" wonder at Coleridge's " Aids to Reflection ; " 
derive benefit from the prodigious vigour of Carlyle 
and the lofty sentiment of Channing. 

During the summer of 1853, her health improved 



80 MODEL WOMEN. 

so greatly that a hope of protracted life began to dawn . 
but early in 1856 she began to feel that life was 
fading. About this time, a beloved relative died at 
Howden, and Miss Hessel's health received a blow, 
from which it never fully rallied. She had a pre- 
monition at Mary's grave that she should soon follow 
her. On the 27th August, 1857, she wrote — " My 
strength is very much reduced, my appetite poor, and 
my cough no better. I feel now that I hold life by a 
very slender tenure." Early in January, 1858, she 
said, " All my wishes are now fulfilled. I wished to 
live over the new year's tea-meeting, because my 
death would have cast a gloom over the rejoicings. 
I desire also to receive one more letter from William. 
The Australian mail has arrived, and here is my 
brother's letter. How kind my heavenly Father is ! " 
On Wednesday, the 27th, she entered the dark valley, 
the atonement her only hope. Seeing her mother 
weep, she said, in a tone of deep affection, " Mother, 
don't cry ; I am going home." When life was well- 
nigh gone, with great distinctness she said, slowly, 
" Salvation is by faith." A period of unconscious- 
ness ensued, then one bright momentary gleam, and 
Miss Hessel was no more. 

Crowds of mournful people followed her remains to 
the cemetery adjoining the Wesleyan church at Boston 
Spa. " Is not that a peaceful resting-place ? " she 
said, a few months before. " I have chosen my grave 
there. Our family vault is in the churchyard, but I 
have a wish to be buried among my own people — the 
people with whom I have worked and worshipped." 
In her last letter to her much-loved brother, she said, 
" Do not think sorrowfully of me when I am gone. 
Let this be my epitaph in your memory : — 



DOMESTIC WOMEN. 81 

rt * By the bright waters now thy lot is cast ; 
Joy for thee, happy one ! thy bark hath past 

The rough sea's foam ; 
Now the long yearnings of thy soul are stilled. 
Home ! Home ! thy peace is won, thy heart is filled ; 
Thou art gone Home.' " 



A RIGHT PURPOSE IN LIFE. 

In order to the realization of any true and practical 
life-purpose, three great elements seem to be necessary : 
to inquire for yourself, to act for yourself, and to 
support yourself. Miss Hessel was deeply conscious 
of the fact that while brutes are impelled by instinct 
to the course proper to their realm and nature, she 
was endowed with rationality, that she might act 
upon choice, and, though she might often not have 
it in her power to choose the place where to act, she 
could always choose how to act in it. It is not given 
to many to be doers of what the world counts great 
actions ; but there is noble work for all to do. As 
the author of the " Christian Year " has well sung : — 

11 If, in our daily course, our mind 
Be set to hallow all we find, 
New treasures still, of countless price, 
God will provide for sacrifice. 

The trivial round, the common task, 
Will furnish all we ought to ask : 
Eoom to deny ourselves, a road 
To bring us daily nearer God." 

She well fulfils her part in this world, who faithfully 
discharges the common every-day duties, and patiently 
bears the common every-day trials of her calling and 

G 



82 MODEL WOMEN. 

her home. Miss Hessel had no idea of her education 
terminating when it was deemed necessary she should 
enter upon the practical duties of life. She says : — 
"I am endeavouring in this rural retreat to gain 
something every day. Though it be a little only, it 
is better than nothing, or, what is still worse, re- 
trograding." In the prime of womanhood, we find 
her, in every pursuit, seeking to serve and honour 
God. To a friend in Leeds she writes: — "I must 
combine expansiveness of view with concentration of 
purpose, in order to that beautiful harmony of cha- 
racter so desirable in a woman. It is true that for a 
man to excel in anything, for all the purposes of life, 
he must devote himself to some branch of science or 
business. I mean, I would have him to follow one 
business and excel in it. But woman's mission is 
somewhat different, at least, that of most women,— 
for there are exceptions to every rule, — and my model 
is perfect in everything that comes within the sphere 
of a virtuous, intelligent, domestic woman ; — so per- 
fect that it is no easy matter to determine in what 
she most excels." 

AN EXCELLENT DAUGHTER. 

Miss Hessel bound the best of all ornaments, filial 
love and obedience, on her brow. This is the only 
commandment of the ten that has the promise joined 
to it, as if to show the place it holds in the Divine 
estimation. Without this virtue we should think 
very little of all there might be besides. Some 
daughters go abroad seeking pleasure where it never 
can be found ; but Miss Hessel remained at home, 



DOMESTIC WOMEN. 83 

giving pleasure that was more cheering to her parents 
than the brightest beam that ever shot from the sun, 
and more precious than all the riches the broad earth 
could have poured into their lap. As a daughter, she 
was anxious to do her duty. The discharge of that 
duty brings with it innumerable blessings ; its non- 
performance has been the first step in the downward 
course of untold thousands, and will be, we fear, of 
thousands more. Her strong filial affection is ex- 
hibited in the following sentences : — " There is one 
who demands all my sympathy and affection ; who as 
a wife and a mother, has discharged the important 
duties of her station in a manner which evinced the 
strength of her conjugal and maternal affection, and 
whose peculiarly trying circumstances gave an oppor- 
tunity for the full development of that self- devoted 
disinterested, Christian heroism, which her children 
will remember with gratitude, when her name and 
the memory of her high work, will be enshrined only 
in the hearts of those who witnessed such devoted- 
ness. Of such fortitude in trial, steadfastness in 
adversity, and dauntless energy when despair would 
have overwhelmed some hearts, and, above all, of such 
unassuming piety, fame speaks not. But these are 
engraved in a more enduring page, and will have 
their reward when earth and its emblazoned pomp 
and pride shall have passed away like a vision." 
Well done fair lass ! The recording angel takes notes 
of thy dutiful devotion, and publishes it beyond the 
domestic hearth. Happy mother, whose toils, suffer- 
ings,, and sacrifices, deserved such recompense ! 



o2 



84 MODEL WOMEN. 

A LOVING SISTER. 

As a sister it would be difficult to over-estimate 
Miss Hessel's worth. Being wise and virtuous, she 
swayed an influence of untold power. How often 
have we observed the difference between young men 
who have enjoyed, when under the home-roof, the 
companionship of a sister, and those who were never 
so favoured. Sisters, with few exceptions, are kind 
and considerate ; and home is a dearer spot to all 
because they tread its hearth. How touching are 
Miss Hessel's reminiscences of her beloved and highly- 
gifted brother, who died when she was only nine 
years old. In a letter to her biographer she says, 
August 16th : " As I wrote the date at the top of this 
letter, the recollection flashed across my mind that 
this is the anniversary of dear John's birthday. He 
has been nearly seventeen years in heaven. Seven- 
teen years of uninterrupted progression in knowledge, 
in holiness, in bliss, with a mind unfettered in its 
researches and a soul unencumbered by infirmity or 
sin in its aspirations ! How incomparably nobler he 
must be now than when he first entered his heavenly 
mansion ! I did not tell you how of late years the 
idea of him has strangely interwoven itself with my 
inner being." How faithful generally is a sister's 
love. Place her by the side of the sick couch, let her 
have to count over the long dull hours of night, and 
wait, alone and sleepless, the struggle of the grey 
dawn into the chamber of suffering — let her be 
appointed to this ministry for father, mother, sister, 
or brother, and she feels no weariness, nor owns 
recollection of self. Miss Hessel never entered the 



DOMESTIC WOMEN. 85 

marriage relation. She is not to be undervalued 
because of her freedom from conjugal engagements. 
From the ranks of maidenhood have risen some of the 
noblest specimens of noble womanhood. Long will 
our soldiers talk of Miss Nightingale moving to and 
fro on the shores of the Euxine, like an angel of 
mercy. Long will our navvies think of the happy 
hours spent in Beckenham, where Miss Marsh taught 
them to live " soberly, righteously, and godly." Long 
will Miss Faithful be remembered by the needy of her 
own sex in pursuit of employment. 

HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT. 

The whole household duties were performed by the 
mother and her two daughters, and Miss Hessel, in 
consequence of the delicate health of her sister, took 
more than her share. Affcer making some observa- 
tions on " Todd's Student's Manual," she writes her 
brother : "I am not speaking of it as a whole, for 
what was written expressly for students cannot be 
applicable to the case of a woman whose character 
must ever be domestic, while she humbly strives to 
be intelligent. I detest the word ' intellectual ' when 
applied to a woman. It is impossible for my mind 
to separate it from those horrid visions of untidy 
drawers, unmended stockings, neglected families, and 
all the other characteristics of a slatternly wife." 
About six years afterwards, she says to a friend : " I 
have just been reading an article in a periodical which 
has amused me greatly. It is on ' Female Authors.' 
Its purport is that an unmarried woman, once fairly 
convicted of literature, must never expect to sign her 



86 MODEL WOMEN. 

marriage- contract, but may make up her mind to 
solitariness in the world she presnmes to create for 
herself. Miss Landon is the only scribe recognised 
' who was ever invited to change the name she had 
made famous.' All married literary women, it is 
asserted, ' wore orange-blossom, before they assumed 
the bay-leaf.' It is enough to frighten one if matri- 
mony were the great end of our existence. But as I 
believe that a life of usefulness, in the fullest and best 
sense of that word — universal usefulness, if you will 
admit the term — is the highest good of woman, I 
think that matrimony even should be subservient to 
this end." Miss Hessel, to her credit be it said, 
never neglected domestic duties for literary pursuits. 
Her aim was not to win for herself the notice of the 
public, but to build up a monument of usefulness — to 
make her life a noble and useful one— to build well 
" both the seen and unseen parts." "The mistaken 
idea," says an excellent lady, "that has generally 
prevailed, that woman's work comes intuitively to 
her, and requires no learning, has caused, and is 
causing, a vast amount of misery and mischief." 

CHARACTER OF MISS HESSEL. 

When a girl, Miss Hessel was tall, delicate, and 
sickly ; a glance at her pale countenance was enough 
to satisfy any intelligent observer that the activity of 
the brain was morbid. Rapid growth contributed to 
physical debility; and at one period she suffered a 
good deal from tic-douloureux. When she became a 
woman, she was well-proportioned. Her features 
resembled those of her sainted brother, and intimate 



■DOMESTIC WOMEN. 87 

acquaintance was not necessary to prove that there 
were other than physical approximations. 

The intellect was keen, comprehensive, and dis- 
criminating. In these hollow times, the female 
world teems with fantastic pnppets of affectation and 
vanity, but here we have no creature of carnality, bnt 
an intelligent woman, with large reflective powers. 
A refined ideality was early developed, and carefully 
cultivated by the thorough mastering of our best 
literature, and especially of our best poetry. In conse- 
quence of her capacious memory, and strong imagina- 
tion, she became almost a reflection of her favourite 
authors. Her love for poetry, flowers, and everything 
beautiful in nature or in art, amounted to a passion. 

The moral character of Miss Hessel was of still 
superior glory. Of high spirit she gave ample proof 
when a pupil, and not beyond her eighth year. In the 
master's absence one day, an occurrence transpired 
which kindled his displeasure. He thought Eliza's 
younger sister was the chief culprit, and ordered her 
into the "naughty corner." Eliza, knowing her sis- 
ter's innocence, rose' from her seat, marched boldly 
forth, brought away the victim, and defiantly ex- 
claimed, "My sister shall not be put into the corner!" 
However, unmagisterial acquiescence was deemed 
prudent. To fortitude she added great love of hu- 
manity. A purer benevolence has seldom glowed 
even in the bosom of woman. Of disinterestedness 
her whole life was one bright example. Like all 
young people, she had many faults, but as she ap- 
proached womanhood, she discovered and by Divine 
assistance corrected them. Her chief excellencies are 
within the reach of all. 



CHAPTER IV. 

!{jHmrf|jr0pic Women. 



SECTION I.— ELIZABETH FRY. 

11 She pleaded unweariedly, and with the happiest results, for 
the persecuted, the ignorant, and the wretched of every class, 
and has left behind her a monument of grateful remembrance in 
the hearts of thousands." Samuel Fox. 



WOMAN'S WORK 

In the last census returns it was shown that females 
exceeded by half a million the number of males in 
these islands. In England there are fifteen thousand 
governesses. A few years ago eight hundred and ten 
women applied for a situation of £15 per annum; 
and two hundred and fifty for another worth only 
£12. What are we to do with these poor creatures ? 
How can we find suitable employment for them ? 
These questions pass from lip to lip, and are re-echoed 
on every hand. We join issue with those who of 
late times have come to the strange conclusion that 
there is no essential difference — beyond an anatomical 
or sexual one — between the two great divisions of the 
human race — men and women. As surely as the 
little girl takes to the doll, and the baby-boy to his 
whip, his pop-gun, and his minature ship ; so surely 
did God plant natural instincts for their different 



PH1LANTHE0PTC WOMEN. 89 

duties in the souls of the different sexes. But 
although we hold that men and women were made 
and adapted for their own peculiar walks in life, we 
think woman as well as man may have a laudable 
ambition — she as well as he may take " Excelsior " as 
the device upon her banner. All honour to every 
woman who, sustaining the dignity of her sex, and 
not forgetting her modesty, turns her talent to 
account. Moreover, it is permissible to believe that 
men have sometimes invaded the province of women. 
Is the unrolling of ribbons and measuring of tape a 
suitable employment for young men ? Would it not 
be much more natural for linendrapers and silk- 
mercers to employ women ? The silk would lose 
nothing in being turned over by their little white 
hands. True, it requires a tolerably strong frame to 
be incessantly taking down and putting back in their 
places, samples of goods. But what prevents the hir- 
ing of a small number of men to be specially employed 
on heavy jobs ? Besides, would there be nothing to 
praise from another point of view ? If ladies were 
forced to be face to face with their own sex, who would 
treat them on a footing of equality, would presume to 
be out of temper, and would lose patience with their 
sauntering through a world of curious things, and then 
going away without buying anything, — the making 
of purchases which is now a pleasure would become a 
business. Might not females labour in the tailoring 
department with as much credit to themselves, and 
satisfaction to their employers, as males ? The needle 
is woman's instrument, and if the society of operative 
tailors would nobly give it up to her, hope and work 
would visit many a family, and charm many a home. 



$0 MODEL WOMEN. 

The question whether women, instead of being con- 
fined as at present to a few occupations, shall in common 
with men, be clergymen, doctors, lawyers, professors? 
bankers, members of parliament, masons, sailors, and 
soldiers, is felt by many to be one of great difficulty 
and importance. There is no reason in theory why 
women should not make good masons, sailors, and 
soldiers ; and there are abundant instances on record 
in which they have succeeded admirably in these em- 
ployments. If you say these vocations are adapted 
to men by physical conditions, and not to women, you 
contravene the programme of some very able men 
and many strong-minded women, and admit all that 
those contend for who say that a line must be drawn 
somewhere, and add that the line which is indicated 
by the twofold consideration that woman is physically 
weaker than man, and that the business of maternity 
requires more devotion, time, and energy than that of 
paternity, has every appearance of being a natural 
line. Of this we are certain — that women, who have 
time and money at their disposal, might take the 
advice given to Lady Clara Vere de Vere : — 

" Go teach the orphan boy to read, 
And teach the orphan girl to sew." 

To visit mission schools, ragged schools, Dorcas 
societies, and prisons, is womanly, consistent, and 
noble. 

BIOGRAPHY. 

Elizabeth, third daughter of John Gurney, Esq., 
of Earlham Hall, near Norwich, was born on the 21st 
of May, 1780. By her mother, Catherine Bell, who 



PHILANTHROPIC WOMEN. 91 

died in 1792, she was descended from the ancient 
family of the Barklays, of Ury, in Kincardineshire, 
and great- granddaughter of Robert Barclay, the 
apologist of the Quakers. In natural talent she was 
quick and penetrating, but her education was rather 
defective, To the gaieties of the world, in the usual 
acceptation of the term, she was but little exposed. 
Music and dancing are not allowed by Friends ; 
though a scruple as to the former is by no means 
universal. The Misses Gurney had all a taste for 
music, and some of them sang delightfully, especially 
Rachel and Elizabeth. They even danced, now and 
then, in the large anteroom ; but with little of the 
display generally manifested on such occasions. 

Years passed on, and little by little an all-wise 
Providence gradually led Elizabeth Gurney into the 
meridian light of day — the glorious liberty of the 
children of God. A severe illness first brought her 
to serious thought, but it was on the 4th of February, 
1798, at the Friend's meeting-house at Norwich, that 
the word was spoken which was destined to transform 
her into a new creature. The instrument of this 
great change was William Savery, an American 
Quaker, who had come to pay a friendly visit to this 
country. 

The real goodness, self-denial, and devotion of 
the early founders and disciples of Quakerism, first 
brought it into existence, and kept it alive, in spite of 
much that was absurd, much that was bigoted, fan- 
tastic, and unmeaning. Like other strange mixtures 
of human error and Divine truth, it has lived its day, 
and is gradually dying out, as all phases of religious 
excitement must eventually die when based upon 



92 MODEL WOMEN. 

external peculiarities, and exceptional cases of per- 
sonal consecration to a one-sided form of narrow 
sectarianism. It is computed that the number of 
Quakers in all England is now scarcely one in eleven 
hundred, while in their palmy days they reached one 
in one hundred and thirty persons. The Society of 
Friends now contribute much less to the great solid 
stock of intellectual wealth and spiritual worth which is 
constantly accumulating in the world, than they did in 
the days of our heroine. They can boast of no celebrities 
now such as Fox, andPenn, and Barclay, and Naylor, 
and Woolman. Their sole orator is Mr. Bright, who 
belongs to them in name rather than reality. But 
although Quakers may soon become extinct, their 
exertions in the cause of freedom will continue to 
bear noble and good fruit for many an age. But for 
the circumstances in which she was placed, there is 
reason to suppose that Elizabeth Gurney would have 
adopted some less strict, not to say more legitimate, 
form of Christianity. Be that as it may, she con- 
tinued throughout life a Quakeress ; singularly free 
from narrow-mindedness and intolerance. 

Having visited London, the south of England, and 
Wales, she began when not more than eighteen years 
of age, those manifold labours of philanthropy, which 
have raised her to a distinguished place among the 
benefactors of mankind. 

In 1800, she became the wife of Joseph Fry, Esq., 
of Upton, Essex, then a banker in London. The 
wedding was on the 19th of August, at the Friends' 
Meeting House, in Norwich. We shall quote her own 
description of the day. " I awoke in a sort of terror 
at the prospect before me, but soon gained quietness, 



PHILANTHROPIC WOMEN. 93 

and something of cheerfulness ; after dressing we set 
off for meeting ; I was altogether comfortable. The 
meeting was crowded ; I felt serious, and looking in 
measure to the only sure place for support. It was 
to me a truly solemn time ; I felt every word, and not 
only felt, but in my manner of speaking expressed how 
I felt ; Joseph also spoke well. Most solemn it truly 
was. After we sat silent some little time, Sarah 
Chandler knelt down in prayer ; my heart prayed with 
her. I believe words are inadequate to describe the 
feelings on such an occasion. I wept a good part of 
the time, and my beloved father seemed as much 
overcome as I was. The day passed off well, and I 
think I was very comfortably supported under it, 
although cold hands and a beating heart were often 
my lot." It was much more the custom then than 
it is now, for the junior partner to reside in the house 
of business ; and accordingly Mr. and Mrs. Joseph 
Fry prepared to establish themselves in St. Mildred's 
Court, in the city of London. The house was suitable 
in every way; and continued to be an occasional 
residence of different members of the family, till it was 
pulled down in consequence of alterations. 

Elizabeth Fry was, by her marriage, brought into 
completely new circumstances. Unlike her own 
parents, her father- and mother-in-law were " plain 
and consistent Friends ; " and thus she found herself 
the " gay, instead of the plain and scrupulous one of 
the family." This brought her into difficulty and 
trial ; and she feared, lest in the desire to please all 
she should in any degree swerve from the line of con- 
duct she believed right for herself. Nevertheless, for 
several years her life flowed smoothly on, in a round 



94 MODEL WOMEN. 

of domestic and other virtues. But God visits His 
people with trials, for the very same reason that the 
refiner casts his silver into the furnace. He tries 
them, to purify them. Again and again had sickness 
been permitted to enter her immediate circle, and 
she was frequently called upon to witness the last 
moments of dear relatives. In 1808, her father-in- 
law, William Storrs Fry, died at St. Mildred's Court, 
where she had nursed him for several weeks. His 
decease produced an important change in her circum- 
stances, causing the removal of the family to Plashet, 
a hamlet in the parish of East Ham, Essex, in the 
spring of 1809. The change from the din of the city 
to the quiet of the country, was not the less appre- 
ciated because years had left traces of hard-earned 
experience. 

In 1811, she was publicly acknowledged by the 
Society of Friends as one of their ministers. A 
Mrs. Fry, or a Miss Marsh, may with much success 
labour for the eternal weal of souls. Those who 
would hinder them ought to bear in mind that God 
inspired women of old with the spirit of prophecy, 
and gave the songs of more than one of them a place 
in sacred literature. In the memoir edited by two of 
her daughters, we read as follows : " One thing is 
obvious, that it was as a minister of the Society of 
Friends, and as such only, shielded by its discipline 
and controlled by its supervision, that she could have 
carried out her peculiar vocation in the world and the 
Church." She attended the first meeting of the Nor- 
wich Bible Society, and ever after took a deep interest 
in that noble institution. Elizabeth Fry evidently 
entered upon the scene of her future labours among 



PHILANTHEOPIC WOMEN. 95 

the poor female felons in Newgate, without any idea 
of the importance of its ultimate results. That career, 
while presenting an almost inexhaustible fund of 
instructive thought, is yet, necessarily, somewhat 
repetitive. It is the glory of benevolence to be uniform. 
Queen Charlotte heard of this exemplary woman, 
and in 1818 she went by royal command to the 
Mansion House. She should have been presented to 
her Majesty in the drawing-room, but by some mistake, 
she was conducted to the Egyptian Hall. The queen 
perceived Mrs. Fry, and advanced to address her. 
A murmur of applause ran through the assembly, 
when they saw the diminutive queen covered with 
diamonds, and the tall Mrs. Fry, in her simple 
Quakeress's dress, earnestly conversing together. It 
was royal rank paying homage at the shrine of royal 
worth. In 1831, she had an interview with the 
Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria; and 
reminded the young princess of King Josiah, who 
began to reign when eight years old, and did that 
which was right in the sight of the Lord. The 
same year she had some conversation with Queen 
Adelaide, chiefly on benevolent subjects. In 1840, 
Lord Normandy presented her to Queen Victoria, at 
Buckingham Palace. Her present majesty had sent 
her £50, for a refuge at Chelsea, and inquired about 
Catherine Neave's refuge, for which she had sent 
another £50. Mrs. Fry thanked her, and before with- 
drawing, reminded our noble queen of the words of 
Scripture, " with the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself 
merciful ; " and assured her that it was her prayer 
that the blessing of God might rest upon her and 
Prince Albert, to whom she was about to be married. 



96 MODEL WOMEN. 

Her health now began to fail, from over-fatigue and 
anxiety ; but she rallied, and only ceased from works 
of benevolence when her strength was entirely spent. 
As increasing infirmity prevented her from active 
employment, she occupied herself with correspondence, 
which by degress became enormous. 

In August, 1845, Mrs. Fry was removed to 
Eamsgate, as sea air was considered desirable for 
her, and after some difficulty her husband obtained a 
house exactly suited to her necessities. For some 
time the hopes and fears of her relatives were kept in 
a constant state of alternation regarding her recovery. 
On the 10th of October, she appeared better, but 
shortly after was seized with a paralytic attack, which, 
though it did not render her speechless, destroyed 
her capacity for rational communication. The will 
seemed gone, and the inclination to resist or even 
desire anything, passed away. The last words she 
spoke were, " Oh ! my dear Lord, help and keep thy 
servant." She died on the 12th, aged sixty-five. The 
night had been dark, but the morning broke gloriously; 
and soon after the eternal light had dawned upon her 
soul, the sun rose from the ocean, and 

" Flamed in the forehead of the morning sky." 

A vast multitude attended her funeral, not to listen 
to the language of inflated eulogy, but to testify the 
estimation in which the departed was held. The 
procession passed between the grounds of Plashet 
House, her once happy home, and those of Plashet 
Cottage, to the Friends' burying- ground at Barking, 
Essex, where her grave was prepared. There is no 
appointed funeral service among Friends. A deep 



PHILANTHROPIC WOMEN. 97 

silence pervaded the mighty assembly. At length her 
brother, Joseph John Gurney, addressed the thousands 
gathered around her tomb, and offered solemn prayer. 

EARLY SCHEMES OF USEFULNESS. 

During seventeen centuries of the Christian era, the 
only associations of a benevolent character were the 
family, the school, and the church ; and the peculiar 
form of operation in which such societies are now 
seen, virtually began at the commencement of the 
present century. It is only of the England of the 
last sixty years that we can emphatically say, " on her 
head are many crowns, but the fairest and brightest 
is that of charity." Had this great benefactor of 
her race lived but one half century earlier, her plans 
would have been circumscribed, and in all pro- 
bability would have ended with her own life. But it 
pleased Almighty wisdom to raise her up at a time 
when it was not only beginning to be whispered, 
but even loudly asserted, that each individual was 
bound to spend and ' be spent in the service of God 
and humanity. At a very early age Elizabeth 
Gurney commenced those habits of visiting and re- 
lieving the poor, both at Earlham and in Norwich, 
especially the sick; reading the Bible to them, and 
instructing their children. She established a school, 
which gradually increased, from one little boy to so 
great a number, that the house became inconvenient, 
and a vacant laundry was appropriated to that pur- 
pose. How she managed to control above seventy 
scholars, without assistance, without monitors, and 
without the countless books and pictures of the 



98 MODEL WOMEN. 

present day, must ever remain a mystery to many. 
Nor was her attention confined to the very poor. The 
widow of an officer, who was living alone in a small 
house near Norwich, was suprised during her con- 
finement with her first child, by a loud ring at the 
bell. Her servant came running up stairs with a 
basket in her hand, and in the broad dialect peculiar 
to Norfolk, informed her mistress that it had been 
left by a beautiful lady on horseback, in a scarlet 
riding habit, whose servant had told her it was Miss 
Elizabeth Gurney. The basket contained a chicken 
and some little delicacies. 



TEE FEMALE PRISONERS' FRIEND. 

In 1813, the deplorable condition of the female 
felons in Newgate attracted the attention of Elizabeth 
Fry, and she resolved to visit them. "We will not 
attempt to describe the details of miscalled prison 
discipline, nor of those flagrant abuses which, under 
the very eye of law, encouraged rather than di- 
minished crime, by destroying the last remnant of 
self-respect in the criminal. Suffice it to say that 
the condition of the female convicts was a disgrace 
to any civilised country. Four rooms, comprising 
upwards of one hundred and ninety superficial 
yards, were crowded with nearly three hundred 
women, besides their children, without classification 
or employment, and with no other superintendence 
than that of a man and his son ! Into this scene 
Mrs. Fry entered, not mailed in scorn, in hatred, or 
contempt, but in the armour of a pure intent. She 
respected human nature however fallen, and worked 






PHILANTHEOPIO WOMEN. 99 

with it, not against it, as prison systems often do. 
Her gentleness at once fixed the attention of those 
insolent, violent, and insubordinate characters. She 
then read and expounded a portion of Scripture, and 
uttered a few words in supplication. Many of the 
poor creatures wept from a hitherto unfelt motive, 
and Mrs. Fry left, deeply affected, but without any 
idea of the importance or ultimate results of the 
labours she had begun. It was not, however, till 
about Christmas, 1816, that she commenced her 
systematic visits to Newgate, being then particularly 
induced by the reports of those gentlemen who, in 
1815, originated the society for " The Improvement 
of Prison Discipline.' ' Under her influence the Asso- 
ciation for the Improvement of the Female Prisoners 
of Newgate, was formed in 1817. The almost imme- 
diate result was order, sobriety, and neatness. This 
surprising change soon attracted attention, both in 
and out of Parliament, and in 1818, Elizabeth Fry 
was called upon to give evidence before a committee 
of the House of Commons. Arrangements similar 
to those adopted at Newgate were subsequently 
introduced into all the metropolitan gaols ; and she 
personally inspected the prisons, lunatic asylums, 
and other kindred institutions in the United King- 
dom, and afterwards those in the most influential 
nations of Europe. The enlightened and benevolent 
of her sex, both in our own and foreign lands 
became her coadjutors. Through her instrumentality 
important improvements took place in the treatment 
of female convicts sentenced to transportation. Her 
active and untiring philanthropic exertions on behalf 
of felons of her own sex, acquired for her in her life- 

h2 



100 MODEL WOMEN. 

time the name of " the female Howard." Only to 
hang, banish, and imprison convicts, ill becomes those 
who have sinned more against God's laws than the 
worst of criminals have sinned against man's. It 
has been clearly proven that women discharged from 
prison, and thrown upon their own resources, without 
a character, and consequently without any means of 
obtaining a livelihood, relapse into their former evil 
habits. We ought to provide suitable employment 
for them, and thus restore them to society, and pre- 
vent their children from sharing their poverty and 
learning their crimes. 

FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

Death frequently entered the family of Mrs. Pry, 
and " sorrow upon sorrow " often formed the burden 
of her wounded spirit. Her sister, Elizabeth Gurney, 
died rejoicing that the hour of her deliverance had 
arrived, and that she was about to lay down her frail 
tabernacle, and appear in the presence of her God 
and Saviour. Her little grandson, Gurney Reynolds, 
was an especial object of interest to her. He left her 
not more unwell than usual. News came that he was 
worse, and three days afterwards he breathed away 
his patient spirit, as he lay upon the sofa in his 
mother's room. The lovely little Juliana, the second 
daughter of her son William, one of the sweetest 
blossoms that ever gladdened parents' hearts, was cut 
off after thirty hours' illness. But the storm had 
not blown over; again the thunder-clouds rolled up. 
Her son, William Storrs Fry, the beloved and 
honoured head of that happy home, was himself 
laid low. On the day of the funeral of his little 



PHILANTHROPIC WOMEN. 101 

Juliana, he exclaimed, " I shall go to her, but she 
shall not return to me." His last words were. 
" God is so good ! " Emma followed her father, 
whom her young heart had loved and desired to 
obey, just one week after his departure, and eighteen 
days from the death of her sister. One grave eon- 
tains all that is mortal of the father and his daughters. 
Mrs. Fry felt these blows acutely, but He who sent 
them bestowed His Holy Spirit ; and so her faith 
proved stronger than her anguish. When the lips 
turn pale, and cold damps gather upon the brow ; 
when the loved one is laid in the shroud ; when the 
screws go into the coffin, and the mould rattles 
hollow on its lid, — faith can rise above things below, 
and see the ransomed spirit, singing and shining, 
before the throne. 

RELATIVE DUTIES. 

The marriage union is, of all human relations, that 
involving the most delicate, profound, and various 
responsibilities. It is only when the hearts of husbands 
and wives are right with God that high conjugal life 
can be attained. Mrs. Fry knew what was necessary 
to adorn the estate of matrimony — even virtuous love. 
" No happiness," says Dr. Macfarlane, "can be ex- 
pected at home, if love do not preside over all the 
domestic life. How blessed is that husband who is 
the loved one, who is made to feel that the reverence 
and obedience due to him are not only ungrudged 
but cheerfully conceded ! This lies at the foundation. 
That wife is not only wicked, but a very fool, who 
contests with her husband for authority. It is 
against the law of marriage, and, therefore, it is 



102 MODEL WOMEN. 

against nature. Ten thousand times ten thousand 
wrecks of domestic happiness have been the conse- 
quence." Although more liberally endowed with the 
qualities adapted for government than most women, 
Mrs. Fry rejoiced that it was laid upon broader and 
stronger shoulders. Her husband loved her, and 
therefore had a right to rule over her ; she loved her 
husband, and therefore willingly obeyed him. Both 
were happy because both drank into the spirit of 
love. 

As a mother she shone with peculiar brightness. 
In that most important sphere — home, she was at 
once the inspiring genius and the guardian angel. By 
her visible action and invisible influence, she efficiently 
prepared her children for passing through the inevit- 
able struggles, and for securing the great ends of life. 
She knew that they might be fitted for the idols of 
coteries and the lights of drawing-rooms, and yet be 
utterly unable to grapple with the first onset of tempt- 
ation. As a sure proof of their excellent education, 
her children rose from infancy to childhood, and on 
to youth, womanhood, and manhood, with hearts full 
of affection and grateful recollections of the worth 
of their mother. 

Some mistresses seem to think that little responsi- 
bility attaches to them with regard to servants, and 
that so long as they provide them with home, food, 
and wages, they perform all the duty required. Mrs. 
Fry believed that servants should be rightly directed 
and kindly treated. She did not look upon domestics 
as foreigners or as aliens, but as members of the house- 
hold ; not mere living machines, hired to cook well, 
scrub well, wash well, and attend the table well ; but 



PHILANTHEOPIC WOMEN. 103 

living persons of flesh and blood, with, nerves and 
muscles, liable to pain and weariness — with hearts 
capable of feeling joy, sorrow, love, and gratitude — 
with souls that may be saved or lost ! Her conduct 
met its immediate reward. The servants cared for 
the mistress, they had an interest in the family, they 
were attached friends. 



CHARACTER OF MRS. FRY. 

Her figure was tall and, when young, slight and 
graceful. She was an excellent horsewoman, and 
rode fearlessly and well, but suffered a good deal 
from deiicacv of constitution, and was liable to severe 
nervous attacks, which often hindered her from join- 
ing her sisters in their different pursuits. When 
young she had a profusion of soft flaxen hair. Finery 
in dress was always avoided, but she was slow in 
adopting the costume worn by the Friends. She first 
laid aside all ornaments, then chose quiet colours for 
dresses, and had them made with perfect simplicity. 

We must say something of Mrs. Fry's mental 
powers. Old Byrom, in one of his quaint humours, 
tells us that, — 

\ " Tall men are oft like houses that are tall, 
The upper rooms are furnished worst of all." 

In many cases it may be as he has said ; and not only 
in regard to men, but also in reference to women. 
Here, however, we have a splendid exception— one 
who was a cedar in the Lebanon of intellect, as well 
as in that of flesh and blood. In natural talent, she 
was quick and penetrating, and had a depth of origi- 



104 MODEL WOMEN. 

nality very uncommon. She was not exactly studious, 
yet her " upper rooms " were well furnished. 

Her moral character is not difficult to describe. 
As a child, though gentle and quiet in temper, she 
was self-willed and determined. In a letter, written 
before she was three years old, her mother says : — 
" My dove-like Betsey scarcely ever offends, and is, 
in every sense of the word, truly engaging." As she 
grew older, what at first seemed obstinacy, became 
finely tempered decision; and what was not unlike 
cunning, ripened into uncommon penetration. Enter- 
prise and benevolence were predominant traits in her 
character. While she believed that domestic duties 
had the first and greatest claims ; she overflowed with 
sympathy for suffering humanity. Utter unselfish- 
ness was the secret of her power. 



SECTION II. 

AMELIA WILHELMINA SIEVEKING. 

"An actual life, that speaks for itself with that force of con- 
viction which pierces like a purifying fire to the conscience, and 
demands of everyone who hears its voice, an answer, not in words, 
but in deeds." Dr. Wicheen. 



WOMAN'S BIGHTS. 
• At the present time the question of woman's rights 
is being widely, and in some quarters warmly, dis- 
cussed. Our serial literature, both at home and 
abroad, is claiming for woman freedom from all 
political, social, and legal, disqualifications. That wo- 
men have legal grievances of a serious nature, cannot 
for a moment be questioned. How much longer will 



PHILANTHKOPIC WOMEN. 105 

seduction continue to go unpunished, except as a 
civil injury and by a fictitious and costly suit ! How 
much longer is woman to bear all the consequences 
flowing from the sin of two souls, and to be goaded 
into child-murder or suicide by the monstrous in- 
justice of law! "We punish every crime save the 
wrong that is deepest and most cruel of all. Then 
again, the absolute right of the husband to the pro- 
perty of his wife, unless secured to her by special 
settlement, is both cruel and unjust in its practical 
operation. Anything so injurious to woman ought 
immediately to be erased from the statute-book. Yet 
with every disposition to secure for woman all that 
she can wisely claim, we have no sympathy with 
those who would draw her into public action in 
opposition to man to whom she is so closely allied. 
Some time ago we read that the Aylesbury magis- 
trates had appointed Mrs. Sarah Wooster to the 
office of overseer of the poor and surveyor of high- 
ways for the parish of Illmire, and that during the 
previous year four women filled similar offices in the 
Aylesbury district. As surely as a good housewife 
would give her husband a Caudle curtain-lecture were 
he to proffer his services in sweeping the floor, dress- 
ing the linen, or cooking the dinner, so surely will a 
good husband cry out against and turn with disgust 
from a wife who would invade his province. In the 
sick-room, woman, by her quick perception, her in- 
stinctive decision, and her tender sensibilities, may 
accomplish infinitely more for the well-being of 
society, than man. For all the services of philan- 
thropy she is peculiarly fitted. The rights of woman 
do not obtain their due measure of attention even 



106 MODEL WOMEN. 

in this country. Nothing "but good could possibly 
accrue from the full acknowledgment of her claims 
to be educated as well as man is educated, and thus 
to be provided for the many contingencies to which 
her sex is subject. 

BIOGRAPHY. 

Amelia Wilhelmina Sieveking was born at Ham- 
burg, on the 25th of July, 1794L Her father, Henry 
Christian Sieveking, was a merchant, also a senator of 
the city, and seems to have been a man of considerable " 
literary cultivation. Of her mother, Caroline Louisa 
Sieveking, whom she lost before she had completed her 
fifth year, Amelia retained no distinct recollection. 
During the illness of Madame Sieveking, Miss Hosch, a 
niece of her husband's, entered the family, and, after 
their mother's death, carried on the housekeeping, and 
took charge of Amelia and her four brothers. At an early 
age she received a succession of dry lessons in writing 
and arithmetic, French, drawing, music, and when old 
enough to enter on a more regular course of instruc- 
tion, Mr. Sieveking gave his daughter her choice be- 
tween two rationalistic theologians. Amelia had no 
means of making a choice between them ; she had 
recourse to drawing lots, and the gentleman on whom 
the lot fell gave her instructions in German grammar 
and literature, history, geography, and religion. But 
his method of teaching was so stiff and formal, that 
he soon lost the affection and respect of his pupil. 

Up to the time of her father's death, in 1809, her 
education had been so badly conducted, as to awaken 
positive dislike in the child's mind, and her religious 
instruction in particular was so defective as to leave 



PHILANTHROPIC WOMEN. 107 

her not only without joy, but tossed with doubts and 
difficulties. After the death of her father, as he left 
no property, the family was scattered, and Amelia 
was put to board with a Mdlle. Dimpfel, a very pious 
but ill-educated person. Her Bible, however, the old 
lady knew from beginning to end, and had the happy 
art of telling Bible stories in such a way as to interest 
the young. Her dependent position deprived her of 
all paid tuition, and she had to work at ornamental 
needlework for her maintenance. About this time, 
although she had not learnt to know Christ as the 
Son of God, as her Redeemer, and the only source of 
happiness, she was nevertheless confirmed. In 1811 
she went to live with Madame Briinnemann, an ex- 
cellent and kind-hearted woman. Her duties con- 
sisted in reading aloud to an invalid son, and assisting 
his mother in the household. The son died in Septem- 
ber of the same year, and Amelia could not leave the 
poor mother in her bereavement. It was arranged 
that an aged aunt of Madame Briinnemann's should 
take up her abode with them, but she fell ill and died. 
From this lady and Madame Briinnemann, Amelia 
inherited a small sum of money, which, together with 
a pension from a fund for the daughters of deceased 
senators, supplied her modest requirements and in- 
sured her independence. 

The many losses and calamities brought on Ham- 
burg in consequence of the French occupation in 
1812, led her to retrench her expenditure by doing 
her own washing. For a whole summer she washed 
all her own clothes in secret. She also endeavoured 
to learn dressmaking and cooking, and besides these 
household accomplishments, gave some attention to 



108 MODEL WOMEN. 

others of more "use in society; but the instruction of 
youth was the only vocation that seemed to satisfy 
both her intellect and heart. 

In 1817 her brother Gustavus died at Berlin 
while studying for the ministry. He was the nearest 
in age to herself, and had been her chief and favourite 
companion. The stroke was heavy, and intensely felt. 
Amelia herself says, " I had not felt so deeply the 
death of my father, still less that of my elder brother. 
This profound grief became a turning-point in my life." 
At the pressing invitation of her now, alas! only 
brother and sister-in-law, she visited London in June, 
and found refreshment for her own heart at the sight 
of their domestic happiness. Soon after her return 
from England, the house next to the one where she 
lived in the city was burned down, and five persons 
perished in the flames. This event impressed her 
deeply. Thomas a Kempis's "Imitation of Christ' ' 
now fell into her hands, and its devout and tender 
teachings shed a balm over her wounded spirit. She 
sought explanations of the Bible from all the books 
that came in her way ; but unfortunately they were all 
rationalistic in their tone, and gave no light. At last 
Prancke's " Preface to the Bible " fell into her hands, 
and there she was taught to compare the different pas- 
sages one with another, and to apply all she read to 
herself by prayer. She was hungering and thirsting 
after righteousness, and the promised blessing was 
soon to be hers. In June, 1819, she says : "I feel 
myself now strongly inclined to adopt the orthodox 
doctrine which I have so long rejected, but I must 
have clearer light on it first." That clearer light was 
soon given to her, in conversations with an evangelical 






PHIIANTHKOPIC WOMEN. 109 

pastor of the name of Rautenberg, and at last she 
arrived at childlike faith in "that most comforting 
doctrine of atonement." 

. The biographer of Miss Sieveking, in a memoir in 
itself of nnnsnal interest and value, by means of apt 
quotations from her diary and letters, has presented 
us with a very complete portraiture of her outer and 
inner life. From these extracts we learn, that in her 
early years she was in the habit of casting lots, when 
in difficulty as to the path of duty ; but in after-life 
she discontinued the practice. Doubtless, like many 
others, she was led to feel that we have no right to 
ask for a sign in circumstances which are sent to train 
us in the use of our judgment. We also find her com- 
plaining of a certain slowness and awkwardness in the 
transaction of business, which often prevented her 
from managing all her household and social duties to 
her satisfaction. 

Miss Sieveking published several works. These 
were for the most part merely transcripts of the 
religious instruction given to her pupils. They were 
read in many circles, and met with very different 
receptions ; but they certainly contain a vast amount 
of practical wisdom and judicious suggestions on the 
whole subject of charitable work, and organizations of 
women for that purpose. 

Amid these varied labours and experiences, one 
thought was ripening in her soul. She had read a 
little French book in which there was much said of 
the sisters of charity among the Roman Catholics, 
and it awakened in her a strong desire to found such 
a sisterhood in the Protestant Church. She had been 
led to this by the fact, that in hundreds of instances 



110 MODEL WOMEN. 

■unmarried women are not permitted to do the good to 
which their hearts impel them, because they have not 
the settled position which would be given by a definite 
calling, recognised as such by the world without. 
With a longing after this work which had only in- 
creased in intensity from being so long pent up with- 
in, we cannot but admire the Christian wisdom and 
moderation with which she viewed the matter, even 
when encouraged by the approval of friends. 

In the autumn of 1824, Miss Sieveking became 
acquainted with Pastor Grossner, a Bavarian by birth, 
who had been a priest in the Roman Catholic Church, 
but by deep study of the holy Scriptures had been 
converted to the evangelical doctrines. This good 
and great man gave a new and powerful impulse to 
her aspirations after what now floated before her as 
the future vocation of her life. Charitable work now 
engaged so much of her thought and sympathy that 
her health, usually so strong, began to give way ; but 
the water of Ems proved beneficial, and old strength 
and fresher looks returned. In 1826, Professor 
Tscharner of Berne, who had been imprisoned in his 
own country, was giving lectures in Hamburg, and 
Miss Sieveking spent many happy hours with himself, 
his wife, and his son. Here also, in 1828, she became 
intimately acquainted with the celebrated Neander, of 
Berlin. 

Nursed amid the sultry climes of India, where it 
periodically slays its thousands and tens of thousands, 
the cholera seems occasionally to take migratory and 
comet-like excursions to Europe, spreading on every 
hand sickness, death, lamentation, and dismay. In 
1831, it suddenly appeared in Hamburg; and Miss 



PHILANTHROPIC WOMEN. Ill 

Sieveking felt constrained to take a step which, in 
the eyes of the world, had something unusual in it, 
and was jndged by that world accordingly. With 
the fall consent of her adopted mother, she offered 
her gratuitous services as nurse in the French wards 
of the town hospital. She also inserted in a journal 
an appeal to other females to offer themselves for the 
same work, but her letter found no response. Our 
own Florence Nightingale had not yet set the 
example of a lady voluntarily consecrating herself to 
such an office. 

The labours in which Miss Sieveking now engaged 
form a deeply interesting chapter in the history of 
philanthropy, but they must not be detailed here. 
Suffice it to say that her society was attended with 
the most blessed results. She at first found some 
difficulty in obtaining coadjutors, although she re- 
quired nothing "beyond sound sense, a certain 
amount of bodily strength, and a knowledge of do- 
mestic matters — except love to the cause and a living 
principle of Christianity." 

Miss Sieveking' s robust bodily constitution and 
elastic spirits enabled her for many years to sustain 
the pressure of charitable work in its many branches. 
But in 1857, her strength began to fail; the physi- 
cians were unanimous in advising a journey to some 
watering-place, and Soden, near Frankfort- on-the- 
Maine, was recommended. In 1858, her active em- 
ployments were gradually and with great reluctance 
given up, and for many months she had to learn the 
harder lesson of waiting patiently on the Lord in 
weakness and suffering. 

On the 1st of January, 1859, she felt so ill, that 



: 



112 MODEL WOMEN. 

she took leave of her servants with the words, " We 
part in tears, but we shall meet again with smiles." 
Some time afterwards, her physician, at the request 
of her nephew, Dr. Sieveking, in London, examined 
the state of her lungs, and declared that he found 
things even worse than he expected ; one half of the 
lungs was entirely gone, and only so much left as 
that, with entire silence and perfect rest, her life 
might perhaps be prolonged, for a short time. Miss 
Sieveking thanked him, but remarked that as long as 
she was alive, she would act like a living person, and 
see and speak to her friends. On the 1st of April, after 
the reading of the psalm, " Like as the hart panteth 
after the water brooks," she folded her hands, and 
said, " My Lord ! my Lord ! " Her work on earth was 
done, and she entered on the higher service above. 

In order to conquer the prejudice of the poor 
people against a pauper funeral, she had desired to be 
buried as a poor person; and out of respect to her 
wishes, the plain coffin, made of four black boards, 
was carried by the two appointed pauper bearers, on 
the pauper's bier, to the churchyard of the parish of 
Ham and Horn, and set down on the church path. 
It was soon covered with flowers and garlands, while 
a vast assembly, composed of all classes, flocked out 
of the city and the suburbs. Pastor Rautenberg 
spoke some impressive words, and the minister of 
the parish, Pastor Mumssen, uttered the conclud- 
ing prayer and blessing. Then, as if from the depths, 
arose the chant of the brethren and the children, and 
amidst the sounds of the doxology and the apostolic 
benediction, the coffin was lowered into the vault of 
the Sieveking family. 



PHILANTHROPIC WOMEN. 113 

AMATEUR TEACHING. 

The children's world was Miss Sieveking's element, 
and she therefore felt happy among them. It was 
while attending confirmation classes that she began 
her career as a teacher. Among those who received 
the instructions of the clergyman, was a peasant girl? 
whom she found weeping under a tree, because un- 
able to read aloud like the other scholars. Miss 
Sieveking offered to teach her, and for some time she 
came regularly for lessons, but after a while, probably 
finding the distance from home too great, she appeared 
no more. The impulse to work and make herself 
useful never slumbered in Miss Sieveking's heart. 
She often fetched the little daughter of the family 
that lived in the same house into her room, to instruct 
her in knitting, and when the governess was leaving, 
she asked permission to educate the second girl. 
Finding that she could get on better if she had more 
pupils, and that no one had any objection to make, 
she took six others from families of her acquaintance, 
and at the age of eighteen began her little school. 
With what earnestness she set to work is shown in 
numerous letters to Miss Hosch. Madame Briinne- 
mann's married daughter had no children, and she 
had adopted a little girl, whom she was most anxious 
to place under Miss Sieveking's tuition ; and as the 
child was much younger than her other pupils, she 
was obliged to open a second set of classes. About 
this time, a small circle of ladies, of whom Miss 
Sieveking was one, established a school, in which 
twelve poor girls, afterwards increased to eighteen, 
received gratuitous instruction. She found increas- 

I 






114 MODEL WOMEN. 

ing refreshment in her intercouse with her children, 
and as she had correct views on the subject of educa- 
tion, she aimed at something higher than the culti- 
vation of the memory, viz., the development of the 
whole nature. Such training could not fail to 
sweeten domestic life, and realise the essential ele- 
ments of a true home. If we would have security, 
virtue, and comfort in our dwellings, we must give 
our girls a thorough education. 

SERVICES IN THE HOSPITAL. 

When that new terror-inspiring spectre of our 
age approached Hamburg, Miss Sieveking put her 
services at the disposal of the board of the cholera 
hospital of St. Eric, on the Hollandisch Brook, and 
was summoned when the first female patient was 
brought in. We cannot conceive of a more engaging 
spectacle than a pious female, who, amid all the ab- 
stractions attendant on her rank in society and per- 
sonal accomplishments, can find time to visit the 
sick and the dying. At the same time, we must 
remember that certain duties require certain qualifi- 
cations. Many excellent women who would spend 
their fortunes in soothing the sick, cannot bear the 
sight of blood ; and a " rank compound of villanous 
smells" is to others positive poison. We do not say 
this to detract from such philanthropic heroines as 
Miss Sieveking, but in justice to those who would do 
what she did if they could. To Miss Hosch she thus 
writes : "I have not the slightest fear of infection; and 
as far as this danger is concerned, I can enter the hos- 
pital as calmly as my school-room. This absence of all 



PHILANTHROPIC WOMEN. 115 

dread is unanimously said by the physicians to be the 
best preventative against illness, and hence, nurses, 
comparatively speaking, very rarely die from infection. 
So yon see there is no need for yon to feel any pain- 
ful anxiety on my account." The letters written 
during the eight weeks she spent in the hospital, 
given almost entirely by her biographer, present us 
with a most graphic picture of her life and labours. 
In the men's ward, her special duty was to observe 
what diet was prescribed, and to draw up the daily 
bill of fare for the housekeeper. She had also charge 
of all the linen belonging to the attendants. She 
also occasionally took part in nursing the patients ; 
but the general superintendence was of more import- 
ance even in the women's ward. Although called to 
the work of Martha, when the hospital afforded her 
opportunities she gladly engaged in Mary's work, 
and was the means of saving at least two young girls 
from utter ruin, and restoring the one to her aged 
mother, and the other to a married sister. There was 
a strong prejudice against her entering upon this 
kind of work, not only in the outside world, but in 
the hospital itself; and it required no little wisdom 
and self-control to take up and keep her right place. 
However, she was enabled to meet and overcome all 
difficulties, and when her work ceased to be an experi- 
ment and became a success, those who had blamed, 
praised. On the morning of the day that she left the 
hospital, she received a formal visit from Dr. Siems- 
sen and Dr. Siemers, accompanied by three other 
gentlemen of the special commission, when Dr. 
Siemers, in the name of the rest, made a speech, and 
then handed her a written address of thanks ; and 

i2 



116 MODEL WOMEN. 

another of a similar kind was sent to her in the 
afternoon by the General Board of Health. 

PROTESTANT SISTERHOODS. 

At an early age we catch glimpses of that thought 
which, in the secret depths of her heart, Miss Sieve- 
king cherished as her possible future vocation. In 
1819, she writes in her diary : — " Has not God 
different vocations for His different creatures, and has 
not each its own joys ? May I not find in mine some 
compensation for what is denied me elsewhere ? To 
be a happy wife and mother is not mine — then foun- 
dress of an order of Sisters of Mercy ! " While in 
the hospital her original plan assumed a more 
attainable form, and was shortly afterwards carried 
into execution. The first principles of the plan, 
however, remained the same, and they are those 
which have been so thoroughly tested, and so nobly 
advocated by our own Mrs. Sewell, Mrs. Bayly, Miss 
Marsh and others,: — " personal intercourse with the 
poor, and the exhibition of a love towards them 
manifested in action and rooted in faith." Miss 
Sieveking believed that under their rough exterior, 
the poor had considerable intelligence, and knew 
whether their visitors thought them fools or not. 
We sometimes blush to see how well-meaning men 
and women unwittingly insult the working classes 
in their efforts to do them good ; there was no shrink- 
ing at dirt or personal infirmities — no talking down 
to or patronizing those whom she visited, — with Miss 
Sieveking. She treated them as human beings. 

This new kind of labour for the good of the poor, 






PHILANTHROPIC WOMEN. 117 

attended with the most blessed results. At first 
she met with many refusals. One considered herself 
too much tied by her household duties, another was 
afraid of the objections of her family, and a third 
was alarmed at the difficulties of the undertaking. 
But the Lord strengthened her to persevere, and by 
degrees led her to find some who formally bound 
themselves to take part in the work. In May, 1832, 
the members, — thirteen in number, and all voluntary 
workers from private families, six married women 
and seven unmarried, — met for the first time at, 
Miss Sieveking's home. Many perils threatened the 
young institution. It would be strange not to find 
a new thing objected to. The medical men were 
the greatest barrier. But by-and-by they changed 
their minds, and many of them recommended their 
poor patients to Miss Sieveking. In a few years the 
number increased to thirty-three visiting members, 
besides other ladies who undertook on certain days 
of the week to cook for invalids. The public con- 
fidence in the work so increased that contribution 
all kinds were forthcoming as soon as wanted. 

The great fire of Hamburg in 1842, gave occasion 
for the enlargement of the Amalienstift. The asso- 
ciation erected two large white houses, each compris- 
ing twenty- four tenements, which were incorporated 
with the one already existing as the Amalienstift. 
At the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of 
the association, she stated that she had no fears for 
her work ; she believed it would survive her ; for it 
was built upon the only foundation that ensures per- 
manence — faith in Christ. The idea that filled her 
whole soul, the raising and ennobling of her sex by 



118 MODEL WOMEN. 

works of saving, serving love, had become a fact and 
a reality. There grew out of the parent stem in 
Hamburg several kindred institutions ; and similar 
associations on the plan of Miss Sieveking's have 
been founded in many cities of Northern Germany, in 
Switzerland, in the Baltic provinces of Russia, in 
Sweden, Denmark, and Holland. It was the ex- 
perience of this eminent philanthropist, as it is the 
experience of all who have thought carefully on 
the subject in the light of Scripture, that all higher 
kinds of benefit to the poor are connected with per- 
sonal intercourse with them. 



SPINSTERS RESPECTABLE, HAPPY, AND 
USEFUL. 

Miss Sieveking had on two occasions cherished in 
secret those wishes and dreams which probably no 
young girl is wholly without. In both cases the object 
was worthy of her regard. She was not likely either to 
shut her eyes to reason and common sense, and marry 
a fool ; or to flirt with a man, and in consequence die 
an old maid. In fact she declined an offer of mar- 
riage from a man whom many would have looked 
upon as a desirable match, because he was not after 
her own heart. She knew that the married life was 
only beautiful and happy when wisely entered and 
truthfully lived. In December, 1822, she writes : — 
" Doubtless it is sweet to be loved by a truly good 
man with his whole heart, and to give one's self 
to him in return. I can understand this, and I am 
not unsusceptible to the happiness of the wife and 
mother; on the contrary, their joys seem to me 






PHILANTHKOPIC WOMEN. 119 

among the sweetest and highest on earth.' ' Yet she 
well knew, that the married state was not essential 
to the respectability, happiness, and usefulness of 
woman. In novels and in Campe's book, "A Father's 
Advice to his Daughters," she found marriage re- 
presented as the only proper destiny for a girl ; but 
something within her secretly protested against that 
view. Yes ; to her it constantly grew clearer that an 
all-bounteous God could not have given His blessing 
to one state of life alone, but must have a blessing 
for each. God had evidently reserved her for another 
career ; and, like many other spinsters, she was un- 
questionably respectable, and evidently enjoyed more 
real happiness, and was more extensively useful, than 
numbers of married females. The marriage relation 
must be rightly used or it turns to evil. Some young 
men marry dimples, some ears, some noses; the 
contest, however, generally lies between eyes and 
hair. The mouth, too, is occasionally married ; the 
chin not so often. Some of the most haughty, cold, 
equable, ' staid, indifferent, selfish creatures in the 
world are wives ; and some of the noblest women 
are spinsters. 

CHARACTER OF MISS SIEVEKING. 

In stature Miss Sieveking scarcely reached the 
middle size ; was sparely made ; mercurial in all 
her motions ; and very short-sighted. There was 
nothing remarkable in the head or forehead. Her 
figure was easily recognised from a distance, as she 
hurried along the streets, generally with a heavy 
basket of books and papers. Never arrogant in her 



120 MODEL WOMEN. 

dress, she was always neat and clean ; cared little for 
fashion or elegance, and believed firmly that freedom 
consisted in having few wants. She was not hand- 
some or graceful, in the ordinary sense of the words ; 
and never wasted time over her toilet. 

Mentally Miss Sieveking was simply a woman of 
good sense, conversant with tangibilities; but sin- 
gularly ill fitted to calculate regarding the invisible 
elements of power by which the tangible and the 
material are moved and governed. She was not in 
any respect a genius ; but eminently a matter-of-fact 
woman. Her knowledge of the human heart was 
profound, but her insight into individual character 
was not remarkable. She was, however, right in 
believing that most women underrate their own 
powers ; and that besides discharging the duties 
which the conjugal and filial relations bring with 
them, they would do well to develope a different 
kind of activity, in schools, churches, and charitable 
societies. 

Her character morally was of a high order. Few 
persons are so exactly what they profess to be as she 
was. Once she fell asleep in church, and when her 
brother charged her with it, denied it out of shame : 
but she could get no peace until she acknowledged 
the fact. In her conscientiousness and self-control, 
the earnestness which she carried into the smallest 
matters, the diligence with which she followed every 
good work, her severity towards herself and mildness 
towards others, — she may serve as a pattern to her 
sex. The great idea of compassionate and ministering 
love which was embodied in the life and work of 
Amelia Sieveking, is an idea which can and will set 



PHILANTHEOPIC WOMEN. 121 

woman free — not from the restraints of law and 
custom, not from her vocation of quiet retirement 
and domestic virtue, but from the dominion of vanity, 
of false appearances, and of self-love. Naturally 
impetuous and impatient, at times sharp and abrupt, 
and prone to carry out her own will, she might have 
turned all her faculties to bad account. But by care- 
ful moral culture she built up a noble character, and 
in the language of her biographer, "Hamburg 
accounted it an honour and a joy to call Amelia 
Sieveking her own." 



CHAPTER V. 



SECTION L— HANNAH MORE. 

u Great as her fame has been, I never considered it equal to 
her merit. Such a fine and complete combination of talent and 
goodness, and of zeal and discretion, I never witnessed. All her 
resources, influences, and opportunities, were simply and in- 
variably made to subserve one purpose, in which she aimed to 
live, not to herself, but to Him who died for us and rose again." — 

William Jay. 



LITERATURE. 

Every piece of composition takes up, and must take 
up, as its basis, some element or assumption of fact, — 
states, affirms, or denies something ; but unless it be 
animated by imagination, it is not literature. The 
power of seeing and expressing the aesthetic element 
in nature and life is that which entitles a com- 
position to be regarded as a literary product. It is 
this element which inspires, vitalises, and gives im- 
mortality to a production, whether it be an address to 
a mountain daisy, or a history of the world. Science 
may become obsolete through the progress of dis- 
covery, polemics may become irrelevant through the 
progress of society, but literature is ever new, and 
never old ; it is enduring as the great features of 
nature which are imaged in it, and the manifold as- 
pects of human life from which it derives its chief 






LITERARY WOMEN. 123 

value and fascination. The dominion of popular 
writing is being increased at a most marvellous rate. 
Literature is now crowned as the very chiefest mon- 
arch of these times. On many topics we differ, but 
editors, authors, critics, and all the disseminators of 
literature, are unanimous as to the necessity of the 
diffusion of knowledge. What a mine of intellectual 
wealth has that admirable art, the art of printing, 
now laid open to all ! A lifetime would not exhaust 
those treasures of delight supplied by English genius 
alone. Not only have we men gifted with the highest 
attributes of mind, writing entertaining, instructive, 
suggestive, Christian, and progressive books ; but 
women in every department of literature have taken 
up, not by courtesy, but by right, a full and con- 
spicuous place. Not a few of these authoresses heard 
" that Divine and nightly-whispering voice, which 
speaks to mighty minds of predestinated garlands, 
starry and un withering," and have already received 
their reward. 

BIOGRAPHY. 

Hannah More has been long conspicuous among 
the lights of the world. She was the youngest but 
one of five sisters, and was born on the 2nd of Feb- 
ruary, 1745, at Stapleton, near Bristol. Jacob More 
and Mary Grace educated all their daughters with a 
view to their future occupation as schoolmistresses. 
They had all strong minds, sagacious intellects, and 
superior capabilities for the acquisition of knowledge ; 
but Hannah seems to have combined in herself the 
chief excellencies of all their characters. Her mental 
precocity was extraordinary. When about three 



124 MODEL WOMEN. 

years old, her mother found that in listening to the 
lessons tanght her elder sisters, she had learned them 
for herself. She wrote rhymes at the age of four, and 
before that period repeated her catechism in the 
church in a manner which excited the admiration of 
the clergyman, who had so recently received her at 
the font. Her nurse had formerly lived in the family 
of Dryden, and little Hannah took great delight in 
hearing stories about the great poet. Before she had 
completed her eighth year, her thirst for knowledge 
became so conspicuous, that her father, despite his 
horror at female pedantry, had begun to instruct her 
in Grecian and Roman history, classics and mathe- 
matics. Under the tuition of her elder sister Mary, 
she commenced the study of French. We are not 
aware that she ever visited Paris, but some French 
officers were frequently guests at her father's table, 
and these gentlemen always fixed upon Hannah as 
their interpreter. Hence that free and elegant use 
of the language for which she was afterwards dis- 
tinguished. 

The superior talents, sound principles, and ex- 
cellent conduct of the Misses More attracted notice 
and found patrons ; and whilst still in their youth, 
they found themselves established at the head of a 
school, which long continued to be more flourishing 
than any other in the west of England. Miss Hannah 
sedulously availed herself of the instructions of 
masters in the Italian and Spanish languages. For 
her knowledge of the physical sciences, she was 
largely indebted to the self-taught philosopher, James 
Ferguson; and it is probable that her admirable 
elocutionary powers were the result of lessons received 



LITERARY WOMEN. 125 

from Mr. Sheridan. In 1764, Sir James Stonehouse, 
who had been many years a physician in large prac- 
tice at Northampton, took holy orders, and came to 
reside at Bristol, in the same street with the Miss 
Mores. Sir James discerned Miss Hannah's gifts, 
fostered her genins, directed her theological studies, 
and remained through life her firm friend. 

In 1767, she accepted the addresses of Edward 
Turner, Esq., of Belmont, a man of large fortune, 
good character, and liberal education, but of a 
gloomy and capricious temper, and almost double 
her own age. She resigned her partnership in the 
school, and spared no expense in fitting herself out to 
be his wife. Three times in the course of six years 
the wedding-day was fixed, and as often postponed by 
her affianced husband. Miss Hannah More's health 
and spirits failed ; she could see no rational prospect 
of happiness with a man who could so trifle with her 
feelings, and at last found resolution to terminate the 
anxious and painful treaty. His mind, however, was 
ill at ease till he was allowed to settle upon her an 
annuity of £200, having offered three times that sum. 
At his death he also bequeathed her £1000. Her 
hand was again solicited, but refused. Possibly her 
experience prompted her sisters to spend their days 
in single blessedness. 

One of the most important events in the life of 
Miss Hannah More, was her first visit to London, in 
1773. At that time, neither the habits of people 
deemed religious, nor the scruples of her own mind, 
interdicted her from visiting the theatre, and listening 
to Shakespeare speaking in the person of that con- 
summate actor, David Garrick. The character in 



126 MODEL WOMEN. 

which she first saw him was Lear, and having 
written her opinion of that wonderful impersonation 
to a mutual friend, who showed it to him, the scenic 
hero called upon her at her lodgings in Henrietta 
Street, Covent Garden. He was delighted with his 
new acquaintance, and took a pride and pleasure in 
introducing her to the splendid circle in which he 
moved. In six weeks she became intimate with the 
rank and talent of the time. One of the two sprightly 
sisters who accompanied her to London, graphically 
describes her first interview with the great moralist of 
the eighteenth century. Miss Reynolds telling the 
doctor of the rapturous exclamations of the sisters on 
the road, and Johnson shaking his scientific head at 
Miss Hannah, and calling her " a silly thing ! " she 
seating herself in the lexicographer's great chair, 
hoping to catch a little ray of his genius, and he laugh- 
ing heartily, and assuring her that it was a chair in 
which he never sat. Miss Hannah More's quickness of 
repartee, aptness of quotation, and kindliness of heart, 
won the favour of the leaders of society. But in the 
glittering saloons of fashion, when senators and peers 
paid her homage, she stood quiet and self-possessed. 
In 1775, while the first rich bloom still rested on the 
fruits of her London experience, she remarks : " The 
more I see of the honoured, famed, and great, the 
more I see of the bitterness, the unsatisfactoriness, of 
all created good, and that no earthly pleasure can 
fill up the wants of the immortal principle within. " 
None could more thoroughly weigh popular acclaim, 
and more firmly pronounce it the hosannas of a 
drivelling generation than this young school-mistress. 
Her religious views, which had always been decided, 



LITEEAEY WOMEN. 127 

acquired, as years rolled on, greater force and con- 
sistency. She never went to the theatre after the 
death of her friend Garrick, in January, 1779 — not 
even to see her own tragedies performed. Step by step 
she was led to donbt whether the life she was then liv- 
ing, although "blameless, was in full harmony with her 
own ideas of Christian truth. Whilst these questions 
were agitating her mind, she produced, as a kind of 
index to her spiritual state, a series of "sacred 
dramas,' ' which were even more favourably received 
than any of her former publications. In 1786, she 
withdrew from what she called "the world," into the 
pleasant villages of Gloucester and Somerset. In the 
parish of Wrington, she built a cottage, which was 
called Cowslip Green. Here she laboured diligently, 
and lived a life of active benevolence. When in her 
forty- third year, she assumed the matronly style of 
Mrs. More, a fashion more prevalent then than now. 
Among her most meritorious services, was the estab- 
lishment of Sunday and day schools, clothing associa- 
tions, and female benefit societies, throughout the 
mining district of the Mendip Hills, where the 
people were almost in a state of semi-barbarism. It 
is sad to have to record that these efforts, instead 
of receiving clerical countenance and aid, were vigor- 
ously opposed by them. It is not necessary to enter 
into the particulars of the commotion raised about 
1799, by malevolent persons, against her schools, 
nor to do more than allude to the unprovoked 
slanders and ridicule of literary rivals, resolved 
at all hazards to rob her of her fame. For more 
than three years, to use her own heart-felt words, 
she was "battered, hacked, scalped, tomahawked." 



128 MODEL WOMEN. 

Many things determined Mrs. More to quit Cow- 
slip Green. Perhaps the most powerful was the 
purchase of a piece of ground in the vicinity. Hav- 
ing selected a spot which commanded a view of the 
fine scenery of the vale of Wrington, she built a 
comfortable mansion. With this residence, her sisters 
were so pleased, that they disposed of their property 
at Bath, and made Barley Wood their home, in 1802. 
The clouds of obloquy had now broken up, and in 
the clear brightness which succeeded, Mrs. More had 
thrown herself into fresh local charities, and was 
engaged with new literary undertakings, when she re- 
ceived a severe blow, in consequence of the death of 
Bishop Porteus, in 1809. A few months before, he had 
paid a visit to Barley Wood. The bishop bequeathed to 
Mrs. More a legacy of £100, and she consecrated to 
his memory, in the plantation near her house, an urn, 
with an inscription as unpretending as her sorrow 
was sincere. 

The family circle which had remained unbroken 
for fifty-six years, now approached inevitable dissolu- 
tion. Mary, the eldest sister, died in 1813. Eliza- 
beth, the second, sank to rest in 1816. Sarah, the 
third, fell asleep in 1817. Martha, the fifth, departed 
this life in 1819. The sisters had lived most happily 
together, and these bereavements were felt by Mrs. 
More with all the keenness of her sensitive nature. 
The poor people had been accustomed to look to 
Barley Wood as their chief resource, and scarcely a 
day passed without the arrival of some petitioner 
from the neighbourhood. Por some weeks their 
visits had ceased, and when Mrs. More asked the 
schoolmaster of Shipham the reason, he answered, 



LITEKARY WOMEN. 129 

"Why, madam, they be so cut up, that they have 
not the heart to come ! " 

Years rolled on, and Barley Wood once more 
became a place of general resort, But its mistress 
was not destined to end her days in the home where 
she had lived so long. The duties of housekeeping, 
when devolved upon her in weakness and old age, 
proved too great a burden. When the waste and 
misconduct of her servants became manifest, she 
tried to correct the evil by mild remonstrance; but 
when at length discoveries were made, calculated to 
represent her as the patroness of vice, or at least 
as indifferent to its progress, she discharged her 
eight pampered minions, and broke up her establish- 
ment at sweet Barley Wood. As she was assisted 
into the carriage, she cast one pensive parting glance 
upon the spot she loved best on earth, and gently 
exclaimed, "I am driven like Eve out of paradise; 
but not like Eve, by angels." On the 18th of April, 
1828, she established herself at No. 4, Windsor 
Terrace, Clifton. 

In September, 1832, she had a serious illness, and 
from that period, a decay of mental vigour was 
perceptible. At length, nature seemed to shrink 
from further conflict, and the time of her deliverance 
drew nigh. On the 7th of September, 1833, within 
five months of the completion of her eighty-ninth 
year, she passed the barrier of time, and joined that 
" multitude whom no man can number, who sing the 
praises of God and of the Lamb for ever and ever." 

The shops in the city of Bristol were shut, and the 
church bells rang muffled peals as the funeral proces- 
sion of that child of a charity schoolmaster moved 

K 



130 



MODEL WOMEN* 



along the streets to the grave in Wrington church- 
yard. The mortal remains of the five sisters rest 
together under a large slab stone, inclosed by an iron 
railing and overshadowed by a yew-tree. A mural 
tablet in the parish church records their memory. 
Mrs. Hannah More's record is on high, and her 
virtues are incribed on an enduring monument: of 
her most truly it might be said — 

" Marble need not mark thine ashes, 
Sculpture need not tell of thee ; 
For thine image in thy writings 
And on many a soul shall be." 

SUCCESSFUL AUTHORSHIP. 

Mrs. More as a woman of letters now demands 
our attention. Probably no woman ever read more 
books, or to better purpose; had more extensive 
opportunities of exercising the faculty of observa- 
tion, or so sagaciously improved it. Her command 
of language, erudite, rhetorical, conversational, and 
colloquial, is commensurate with the noble literature 
and tongue of Britain. In the days of her infancy, 
when she could possess herself of a scrap of paper, 
her delight was to scribble upon it some essay or 
poem, with some well-directed moral. One couplet 
of an infantine satire on Bristol has been pre- 
served : — 

" This road leads to a great city, 
Which is more populous than witty." 

At this period, she was wont to make a carriage of a 
chair, and then to call her sisters to ride with her 
to London, to see bishops and booksellers. In 1762, 



LITEKARY WOMEN. 131 

before she had completed her seventeenth year, she 
wrote a pastoral drama, "The Search after Happi- 
ness/' which was published in 1773, and in a short 
time ran through three editions. In 1774, she 
brought out a tragedy, "The Inflexible Captive. " 
The following year it was acted at Exeter and Bath, 
with the greatest applause, in the presence of a host 
of distinguished persons. In 1776, she offered 
Cadell, the publisher, her legendary tale of "Sir 
Eldred of the Bower," and the little poem of the 
" Bleeding Rock," which she had written some years 
previously. She received forty guineas for them. 
In 1777, her tragedy of "Percy" was produced at 
Covent Garden theatre. The success of the play was 
complete. An edition of nearly four thousand copies 
was sold in a fortnight. The theatrical profits 
amounted to £600, and for the copyright of the play 
she got £150 more. In 1779, " The Fatal Falsehood " 
was published, and notwithstanding several disad- 
vantages, was well received. In 1782, she presented 
to the world a volume, of " Sacred Dramas," with a 
poem annexed, entitled " Sensibility." They were 
extremely popular with the arbiters of taste, and sold 
with extraordinary rapidity. In 1786, she published 
another volume of poetry, " Florio : a Tale for Fine 
Gentlemen and Fine Ladies," and "The Bas Bleu; 
or, Conversation." These received a welcome as en- 
thusiastic as if England had been one vast drawing- 
room, and she the petted heiress, sure of social 
applause for all her sayings and doings. In 1788, 
appeared " Thoughts on the Importance of the Man- 
ners of the Great to General Society." It was 
published anonymously, but the writer was soon 

k2 



132 MODEL WOMEN. 

recognised, and the book obtained an enormous sale. 
In 1791, she issued a sequel to this work, under the 
title of " An Estimate of the Religion of the Fashion- 
able World. " It was bought up and read with the 
same avidity as its predecessor. In 1792, she pro- 
duced a dialogue, called "Village Politics." Thou- 
sands of copies were purchased by the Government 
for gratuitous distribution, and it was translated into 
several languages. In 1793, she published her "Re- 
marks on the Speech of M. Duport," which brought 
her in more than £240. In 1795, she commenced 
" The Cheap Repository,'' consisting of tales, both in 
prose and verse. The undertaking was continued 
for about three years, and each number attained to a 
very large sale. In 1799, appeared her "Strictures 
on the Modern System of Female Education." Seven 
large editions were sold in twelve months. In 1805, 
was produced, " Hints towards forming the Charac- 
ter of a young Princess," for which she received the 
thanks of the queen and royal family. In 1809, she 
published "Coelebs in search of a Wife," two volumes. 
The first edition was sold in a fortnight, and eleven 
editions more were demanded in less than twelve 
months. In 1811, "Practical Piety" made its ap- 
pearance, in two volumes. It was worthy of its large 
sale and great celebrity. In 1812, her " Christian 
Morals" was brought out, in two volumes, and met 
with good reception, although not equal to that of 
her two last works. In 1815, she published her 
" Essay on the Character and Writings of St. Paul," 
two volumes ; a work which, in the estimation of 
competent judges, more than sustained her previous 
reputation. In 1818, at the request of Sir Alexander 



LITERARY WOMEN. 133 

Johnston, she wrote a dramatic piece, " The Feast of 
Freedom," for translation into the Cingalese lan- 
guage, to be performed by a native choir, at anniver- 
sary celebrations of the 12th of August, 1816. In 
1819, she published her " Moral Sketches of Prevail- 
ing Opinions and Manners, Foreign and Domestic, 
with Reflections on Prayer." The first edition was 
sold in one day, and realized £3000. The collection 
of her writings is comprised in eleven volumes 
octavo. 

Her books bear testimony to her many talents, 
good sense, and real piety. There, occur, every now 
and then, in her works, very original and very 
profound observations, conveyed in the most brilliant 
and inviting style. Her characters are often well 
drawn, her scenes well painted, and she could be 
amusing in no ordinary degree when she liked. 
Although we have no hesitation in admitting her 
into the long list of canonized bards, yet it must be 
confessed that her literary renown is chiefly derived 
from her prose works. She has been censured for 
the frequent repetition of the same thought in 
different words. Superficial readers, as well as 
hearers, require such a mode of composition. Itera- 
tion is not tautology. 

The great success of the different works of our 
authoress enabled her to live at ease, and to dispense 
charities around her. She realized by her pen alone, 
more than £30,000. Upwards of 50,000 copies of 
her larger works were sold, while her tracts and 
ballads were circulated over the country by millions. 
We venture to affirm that her books were more 
numerous, that they passed through more editions, 



134 MODEL WOMEN. 

that they were printed in more languages, and that 
they were read by more people, than those of 
any other authoress upon record. 

CHARACTER OF MRS. MORE. 

Genius is not often combined with a strong physi- 
cal constitution. Mrs. More was no exception to this 
rule ; for although her general health was about the 
average, she often composed under aches and pains 
which would have entirely deterred others from the use 
of the pen. Her figure was graceful, and her manners 
captivating. The eye, which her sisters called " dia- 
mond," and which the painters complained they 
could not put upon canvas, coruscated, and her 
countenance sparkled, when engaged in conversation. 
She knew that in all companies, she was a principal 
object of attention, yet she never wore a jewel or 
trinket, or anything of the merely ornamental kind, 
during her whole life, though much of that life was 
spent in the society of the great and high-born. 

In glancing at her intellectual character, the first 
thing that strikes us is its versatility — a fact proved 
by this, that she frequently appears in different 
compartments. Thus she was at once a poetess, a 
dramatist, a fictionist, a moralist, a religious writer, 
and a conversationalist. No wonder that she often 
received messages from His Majesty King George 
the Third, from the Queen, and other members of 
the royal family ; and that her friendship was eagerly 
sought by coronets and mitres. Mr. Roberts, one of 
her biographers, says : — " All the powers of her mind 
were devoted to the solid improvement of society. 






• 



LITEKARY WOMEN. 135 

Her aims were all practical ; and it would be difficult 
to name another who has laid before the public so 
copious a variety of original thoughts and reasonings, 
without any admixture of speculation or hypothesis.' ' 
The moral capacity is the imperial crown of 
humanity. Veneration, benevolence, conscientious- 
ness, hope, faith, are the brightest jewels of this 
crown. In Mrs. More, the moral sentiments were 
superior even to the intellectual faculties. She ex- 
actly discerned the signs of the times, and adroitly 
adapted her writings to the necessities of her genera- 
tion. All of them are more or less calculated to 
benefit society, and never did personal example more 
strongly enforce preceptive exhortation, than in the 
instance of this eminent and excellent woman. 



SECTION II— ANNE GRANT. 

" We have no hesitation in attesting our belief that Mrs. Grant's 
writings have produced a strong and salutary effect upon her 
countrymen, who not only found recorded in them much of 
national history and antiquities, which would otherwise have 
been forgotten, but found them combined with the soundest and 
best lessons of virtue and morality. ,, Sir Walter Scott. 



LETTER-WRITERS. 

A good deal of literary fame has been won by 
letter- writing. It were easy to name authors whose 
letters are generally considered as their best works, 
and who owe their position in British literature, 
to those pictures of society and manners, compounded 



186 MODEL WOMEN 

of wit and gaiety, shrewd observations, sarcasm, cen- 
soriousness, high life, and sparkling language, for 
which their correspondence is remarkable. We might 
refer, in proof of our position, to a celebrated peer, 
who was the most accomplished man of his age. In 
point of morality his letters are not defensible. John- 
son said that they taught the morals of a courtesan 
with the manners of a dancing-master. But they are 
also characterised by good sense and refined taste, 
and are models of literary art. The copyright was 
sold for £1500, and five editions were called for with- 
in twelve months. Authoresses have also been dis- 
tinguished for the excellence and extent of their 
epistolary correspondence. We might adduce as an 
example a noble lady, who to her myrtle- crown of 
beauty, and her laurel- crown of wit, added the oaken- 
leaved crown, — the corona civica, — due to those who 
have saved fellow- creatures' lives. For graphic power, 
clearness, and idiomatic grace of style, no less than as 
pictures of foreign scenery, and manners, and decisive- 
ness about life, her letters have very few equals, and 
scarcely any superiors. There can be no doubt as to 
the utility and importance of letter- writing, yet few 
seem to cultivate with care this department. But let 
us rejoice, that though the excuses and apologies of 
the majority prove that they are not what we con- 
ventionally term good correspondents, yet there are 
some splendid exceptions, who are aware of the im- 
portance of this art as a means of promoting social 
affection, and moral pleasure and profit, and whose 
style scarcely yields in simplicity, playfulness, and 
ease, to the eminent examples already cited. 



LITEEAEY WOMEN, 137 



BIOGRAPHY. 

Anne Macvicar, was born at Glasgow, on the 21st 
of February, 1755. She was an only child. Her 
father, Duncan Macvicar, she describes as having been 
"a plain, brave, pious man." He appears to have 
been brought up to an agricultural life, but having 
caught the military spirit, which in that day was 
almost universal among the Scottish Highlanders, he 
became an officer in the British army. Her mother 
was a descendant of the ancient family of Stewart of 
Invernahyle in Argyleshire. She was a Lowlander 
only by the mere accident of her birthplace. Nursed 
at Inverness, the home of her grandmother, the earliest 
sights and sounds with which she was familiar, were 
those of Highland scenery and Highland tongues. 

In a paper containing a rapid view of her childhood, 
she says, " I began to live to the purposes of feeling, 
observation, and recollection, much earlier than child- 
ren usually do. I was not acute, I was not sagacious? 
but I had an active imagination and uncommon 
powers of memory. I had no companion; no one 
fondled or caressed me, far less did any one take the 
trouble of amusing me. I did not till the sixth year 
of my age possess a single toy. A child with less 
activity of mind, would have become torpid under the 
same circumstances. Yet whatever of purity of 
thought, originality of character, and premature thirst 
for knowledge distinguished me from other children 
of my age, was, I am persuaded, very much owing to 
these privations. Never was a human being less 
improved, in the sense in which that expression is 
generally understood ; but never was one less spoiled 



138 MODEL WOMEN. 

by indulgence, or more carefully preserved from every 
species of mental contagion. The result of the 
peculiar circumstances in which I was placed had the 
effect of making me a kind of anomaly very different 
from other people, and very little influenced by the 
motives, as well as very ignorant of the modes of think- 
ing and acting, prevalent in the world at large. " These 
singular influences directed her to authorship in the 
first instance, and gave much of its interest to what 
she wrote. 

When eighteen months old, she was brought back 
to Glasgow, that her father might have a parting look 
of her before leaving, his native country for America, 
in the 77th regiment of foot. His wife and daughter 
remained in Glasgow, in the eastern extremity of the 
town. Probably from hearing her mother describing 
the New World as westward, Anne Macvicar set out 
one Sunday evening, when only two years and eight 
months old, and walked a mile to the west of the 
Trongate. A lady saw, with some surprise, a child 
neatly dressed in white, with bare head and bare 
arms, walking alone in the middle of the street. She 
asked her where she came from ; but the only answer 
was, " from mamma's house." Then she inquired 
where she was going, and was told in a very imperfect 
manner " to America, to seek papa." However, while 
the lady was lost in wonder, a bell was heard in the 
street, and the public crier had the pleasure of restor- 
ing the young traveller to her mother. 

In 1758, she arrived with her mother at Charleston, 
and soon after they were settled at Claverock, where 
Mr. Macvicar was stationed with a party of High- 
landers. Here she not only learned to read, but to 



LITERARY WOMEN. 139 

love truth and simplicity. Her father meanwhile 
being engaged in active service. ■ 

In 1760, he returned from the campaign, and they 
went to Albany, on the Hudson River, where she saw 
the Highland soldiers dragging through the streets 
the cannon destined for the attack on the Havannah. 
She thus describes an excursion about this time up 
the Hudson in boats. "We had a most romantic 
journey; sleeping sometimes in the woods, sometimes 
in forts, which formed a chain of posts in the then 
trackless wilderness. We had no books but the Bible 
and some military treatises ; but I grew familiar with 
the Old Testament ; and a Scotch sergeant brought 
me ' Blind Harry's Wallace ; ' which by the aid of 
such sergeant, I conned so diligently, that I not only 
understood the broad Scotch, but caught an admir- 
ation for heroism, and an enthusiasm for Scotland, 
that ever since has been like a principle of life." 

She returned from Oswego to Albany in 1766 ; and, 
on her way back, a Captain Campbell gave her a hand- 
some copy of Milton ; concerning which she says, " I 
studied, to very little purpose no doubt, all the way down 
in the boat ; but which proved a treasure to me after- 
wards, as I never rested till I found out the literal mean- 
ing of the words ; and, in progress of time, at an age I 
am ashamed to mention, entered into the fall spirit of it. 
If I had ever any elevation of thought, expansion of 
mind, or genuine taste for the sublime or beautiful, I 
owe it to my diligent study of this volume." Facts 
prove that the growth of mind is best promoted by 
that which at first it is capable of understanding only 
partially. This is clear from what came out of Anne 
Macvicar's study of Paradise Lost. The most eminent 



140 MODEL WOMEN. 

woman in Albany at that time was the widow of 
Colonel Schuyler. Her house was the resort of all 
strangers, whose manners or conduct entitled them 
to her regard. Her ancestors, understanding, and 
education, gave her great influence in society, which 
was increased by the liberal use she made of her large 
fortune. " Some time after our arrival at Albany," 
writes our authoress, " I accompanied my parents one 
evening to visit Madame Schuyler, whom I regarded 
as the Minerva of my imagination, and treasured all 
her discourses as the veritable words of wisdom. 
The conversation fell upon dreams and forewarnings. 
I rarely spoke till spoken to at any time ; but of a 
sudden the spirit moved me to say that bad angels 
sometimes whispered dreams into the soul. When 
asked for my authority, I surprised every one, but 
myself most of all, by a long quotation from Eve's 
fatal dream infusing into her mind the ambition that 
led to guilt. After this happy quotation I became a 
great favourite, and Madame Schuyler never failed 
to tell any one who had read Milton of the origin of 
her partiality." At this time Anne Macvicar was 
hardly seven years old. 

Mr. Macvicar, like most Scotchmen, had the faculty 
of making money, and with the view of settling in 
America had obtained a large grant of land, and had 
purchased several valuable properties, the market 
value of which was every day rising. Miss Macvicar 
was looked upon as an heiress ; but her father, falling 
into bad health, was obliged to return to Scotland in 
1768, bringing his wife and daughter along with him. 
He had left America without being able to dispose 
of his property, and on the breaking out of the re- 



i 



LITERAEY WOMEN. 141 

volutionary war, the whole was confiscated by the 
republican government. 

In 1773, her father was appointed barrack master 
of Fort Augustus, in Inverness-shire. Here she first 
met the Rev. James Grant, a young clergyman of 
refined mind, sound principle, and correct judgment. 
At that time he was chaplain to the garrison, but in 
1776, he became the minister of Laggan, a neigh- 
bouring parish, and in 1779, was united in marriage 
to Miss Macvicar. In that Highland parish, fifty 
miles from Perth, and the same distance from 
Inverness, they lived contentedly in the chosen lot 
of Agur. 

Time flowed on characterised by the usual amount 
of shadow and sunshine. In 1801, her husband was 
carried off by consumption; and she found herself 
burdened with the care of eight children, to which 
was added the pressure of some pecuniary obligations 
incurred by a too liberal hospitality. The children 
inherited the same insidious disease. Three sank 
under their mother's eyes in infancy, and the eldest, 
who held a commission in the army, died a few 
months before his father. Of twelve sons and 
daughters only one survived her. 

All her certain income was a small pension from 
the War Office, to which she was entitled in conse- 
quence of her husband having obtained a military 
chaplaincy a few years before his death. In these 
circumstances, her first step was to take charge of a 
small farm in the neighbourhood of Laggaai ; but 
this expedient soon failed. 

In 1803, she unwillingly removed from Laggan to 
Woodend, now called Gartur, two miles south-west 



142 MODEL WOMEN. 

of Stirling, a place of unrivalled beauty. In 1806, 
we find Mrs. Grant residing in Stirling, so renowned 
in Scottish history, and supporting herself and family 
by literature. 

In 1810, Mrs. Grant removed from Stirling to 
Edinburgh, where she spent the remainder of her 
life, distinguished in society for her great talents, 
and esteemed for her many virtues. Her object in 
making the capital her home, and the circle in which 
she mingled, are fully described in her correspondence. 

In 1820, she fell down a stair, which caused serious 
injury, followed by long and severe suffering, and by 
lameness for the rest of her days. In 1825, a pension, 
which at first amounted to only £50, but was after- 
wards increased to £100 per annum, was granted her 
by government, in consequence of an application in 
her behalf, which was drawn out by Sir Walter Scott, 
and subscribed by the most distinguished literati in 
Edinburgh; who therein declared their belief that 
Mrs. Grant had rendered eminent services to the 
cause of religion, morality, knowledge, and taste. 

Notwithstanding many and heavy family trials, 
this strong-hearted woman continued to correspond 
with her friends, and receive those who visited her, 
until the end of October, 1838, when she was seized 
with a severe attack of influenza. Her son was with 
her during her last illness, and she was sedulously 
attended by a lady and servants. She died at her 
house 9, Manor Place, on the 7th November, 1838, 
at the advanced age of eighty- four years. 

A few days afterwards, a mournful multitude fol- 
lowed her remains to the cemetery of St. Cuthbert's, 
then nearly new. She was buried near the graves of 



LITEEARY WOMEN. 143 

four of her daughters. Her son erected a monument 
to her memory. 

LITERARY CAREER. 

We receive a vast amount of education from the 
localities in which we live. From the sketch of her 
own life it is evident that Mrs. Grant was well aware 
of the educative influence of scenery. Who can tell 
how much she learned, during the ten years she lived 
beside the vast lakes, the magnificent rivers, and the 
primaeval forests of America ; and the thirty years 
spent amid the beauties and glories of the Highlands, 
apart from all set teaching, away from all formal 
schools. It is good to see the horizon one red line, 
pointing like a finger to the unrisen sun — to hear the 
earliest notes of the birds — to trample on the emerald 
grass and the blooming heather — to notice the 
" morning spread upon the* mountains," peak tele- 
graphing to peak that the king of day has just entered 
the sky — to listen to such stories as lonely hills and 
misty moors alone ' can inspire. In this sublime 
natural system of education, Mrs. Grant had a large 
share. It stirred her warm imagination, and nourished 
her poetic faculty. 

After the death of her excellent husband, Mrs. 
Grant had mainly to depend for bread to herself 
and children, upon her own exertions. In these 
circumstances she was led to try whether she could 
not better her fortunes by the exercise of her literary 
talents, hitherto employed only for her own amuse- 
ment and the gratification of a few intimate friends. 
Her first essay at poetry was scrawled in a kind of 



144 MODEL WOMEN. 

Miltonic verse, when little more than nine years old. 
She wrote no more till she wandered on the banks of 
the Cart, and afterwards at Fort Augustus, and again 
upon her way home to Laggan, after spending some 
months at Glasgow. All these scraps she gave away, 
without preserving a single copy. But the friends 
among whom Mrs. Grant scattered her verses care- 
fully treasured them, and in 1803, her first publication 
— "The Highlanders, and other Poems" — was an- 
nounced to be published by subscription ; and so well 
did her friends exert themselves, that three thousand 
subscribers were soon procured. This volume, though 
not reviewed in the most flattering terms, was well 
received by the public ; and its profits enabled Mrs. 
Grant to discharge her debts. The following de- 
scription of the Highland poor, is from the principal 
poem in the collection : — 

'• Where yonder ridgy mountains bound the scene, 
The narrow opening glens that intervene 
Still shelter, in some lonely nook obscure, 
One poorer than the rest, where all are poor : 
Some widowed matron, hopeless of relief, 
Who to her secret breast confines her grief; 
Dejected sighs the wintry night away, 
And lonely muses all the summer day. 
Her gallant sons, who, smit with honour's charms, 
Pursued the phantom Fame through war's alarms, 
Return no more ; stretched on Hindostan's plain, 
Or sunk beneath the unfathomable main, 
In vain her eyes the watery waste explore 
For heroes — fated to return no more ! " 

" The Highlanders," which gives the title to the book, 
is a poetical regret at the hard fate that forced so 
many to emigrate. The other poems are on a variety 



LITERARY WOMEN, 145 

of topics, chiefly in illustration of the manners of the 
people among whom she lived. Take the following 
stanza on a sprig of heather : — 

11 Flower of the wild ! whose purple glow 
Adorns the dusky mountain's side, — 

Not the gay hues of Iris' horn, 
Nor garden's artful varied pride ; 

With all its wealth of sweets could cheer, 

Like thee, the hardy mountaineer. " 

One of her songs, commencing, " Oh, where, tell 
me where ? " written on the occasion of the Marquis 
of Huntly's departure for Holland with his regiment, 
the 92nd, or Gordon Highlanders, in 1799, has 
become generally known. We select the following 
verse as a specimen : — 

" Oh, what, tell me what, does your Highland laddie wear? 
Oh, what, tell me what, does your Highland laddie wear? 
A bonnet with a lofty plume, the gallant badge of war, 
And a plaid across the manly breast that soon shall wear a star ; 
A bonnet with a lofty plume, the gallant badge of war, 
And a plaid across the manly breast that soon shall wear a star." 

The merit, however, of Mrs. Grant's poems was 
really slight ; but success prompted another attempt 
at authorship. The result was her best and most 
popular work, the " Letters from the Mountains," 
which was published in 1806, went through several 
editions, and was highly appreciated among the 
talented and influential men of the day. No person 
was so much astonished as herself on hearing that 
"Letters from the Mountains," divided with some 
other publications the attention of readers. In 
October, 1807, she writes : — " Longman, who is 
doubtless the prince of booksellers, has written me 

L 



146 MODEL WOMEN. 

a letter, expressed with such, delicacy and liberality 
as is enough to do honour to all Paternoster Eow : 
he tells me that the profits of the second edition of 
the Letters amount to £400, of which they keep 
£100 to answer for bad debts and uncalculated 
expenses, and against the beginning of next year I 
get the other £300." Publishers, as a rule, deal 
liberally with popular writers. " Memoirs of an 
American Lady, with Sketches, Manners, and Scenery 
in America, as they existed previous to the Revolu- 
tion," were published in 1808. She received £200 
as profits from the New World. " Essays on the 
Superstitions of the Highlanders of Scotland, with 
Traditions from the Gaelic," appeared in 1811; and 
in no degree detracted from her well-earned literary 
reputation. A poem, entitled " Eighteen Hundred 
and Thirteen," was published in 1814. Afterwards 
her pen was occasionally employed in magazine 
contributions. In 1821, the Highland Society of 
London awarded her their gold medal for the best 
essay on the "Past and Present State of the High- 
lands of Scotland." 

In the words of a competent critic, " The writings 
of this lady display a lively and observant fancy, 
and considerable powers of landscape painting. They 
first drew attention to the more striking and romantic 
features of the Scottish highlands, afterwards so 
fertile a theme for the genius of Scott." 

CHARACTER OF MRS. GRANT. 

Mrs. Grant was tall, and, in her youth, slender, but 
after her accident she became rather corpulent. In 
her later years she was described as a venerable ruin ; 



LITEEAEY WOMEN. 147 

so lame as to be obliged to walk with crutches, and 
even with that assistance her motions were slow and 
languid. Her broad and noble forehead, relieved by 
the parted grey hair, excelled even youthful beauty. 
There was a dignity and a sedateness in her carriage 
which rendered her highly interesting, and her ex- 
cellent constitution bore her through a great deal. 

Her conversation was original and characteristic ; 
frank, yet far from rude ; replete at once with amuse- 
ment and instruction. For nearly thirty years she 
was a principal figure in the best and most intel- 
lectual society of the Scottish metropolis ; and to the 
last her literary celebrity made her an object of 
curiosity and attraction to strangers from all parts of 
the world. The native simplicity of her mind, and 
an entire freedom from all attempt at display, made 
the youngest person feel in the presence of a friend. 
Her extensive correspondence, she believed, had a 
tendency to prolong her life. She was fond of having 
flowers and birds in her sitting room. Nature in all 
her phases, aspects, and transitions, had charms for 
her. Notwithstanding her increasing infirmities, and 
even with the accumulated sorrows of her peculiar 
lot, she did not find old age so dark and unlovely as 
the Celtic bard. 

The cheerfulness of Mrs. Grant, and the lively 
appreciation she had of everything done to promote 
her comfort, rendered her, to the latest period of her 
prolonged existence, a delightful companion ; while 
the warm interest she felt in whatever contributed to 
the happiness of others, kept her own affections alive. 
She was left a widow, without fortune, and with a 
large family dependent upon her for their subsistence. 

l 2 



148 MODEL WOMEN. 

Surely if any one had a clear title of immunity from 
the obligation to carry her cares beyond her own 
threshold, it was this woman. Yet she devoted much 
of her time to benevolent efforts. If there was any 
quality of her well-balanced mind which stood out 
more prominently than another, it was that benevo- 
lence which made her study the comfort of every 
person who came in contact with her. Many and 
hard were her struggles for life, but she never lost 
confidence in Divine goodness. 



SECTION III— ANNE LOUISA STAEL. 

"What woman indeed, (and we may add) how many men, could 
have preserved all the grace and brilliancy of Parisian society in 
analyzing its nature — explained the most abstruse metaphysical 
theories of Germany precisely, yet perspicuously and agreeably — 
and combined the eloquence which inspires exalted sentiments of 
virtue, with the enviable talent of gently indicating the defects 
of men or of nations, by the skilfully softened touches of a polite 
and merciful pleasantry." Sir James Mackintosh. 



VERSATILITY OF GENIUS. 

It has been maintained that all human minds are 
originally constituted alike, and that the diversity of 
gifts which afterwards appears results from education. 
But it is plain enough that God hath made marvellous 
differences, original and constitutional, which no 
education can wholly reduce. All children are not 
alike precocious ; and all adults are not alike capable 
of learning or of teaching. Education will do much, 



LITERAEY WOMEN. 149 

but it cannot convert talent into genius, or efface the 
distinction which subsists between them. No educa- 
tion can give what nature has denied — for education 
can only work on that which is given. Some receive 
at birth minds so obtuse, that although sent to school, 
furnished with accomplished teachers, and surrounded 
with all the appliances of learning, they emerge 
dunces ; while others, by the sheer force of their 
genius, push their way upwards to eminence, amid 
every form of hardship, difficulty, and privation. The 
character of mental products is as much determined 
by the natural condition and constitution of mind as 
are the natural products of the earth determined by 
its physical conditions. It would be just as irrational 
to expect glowing pictures, grand conceptions, and 
lofty harmonies to spring in the universal mind, as 
to expect to clothe the whole globe with the cocoa, the 
palm-tree, and the banian. Original genius must be 
inherited. The thoughts which rise in the gifted 
mind — the flash of wit and the play of fancy — are as 
independent of the will as is the weed at the bottom 
of the sea, or the moss on the summit of the hill inde- 
pendent of the farmer. In glancing over the catalogue 
of our mental aristocracy, we are struck with the 
versatility of genius. It is no hard unbending thing, 
confined to a few topics, and hemmed in by a few 
principles ; but a free mountain flame, not unfre- 
quently as broad in its range as burning in its 
radiance. Many of both sexes are equally happy in 
science, art, philosophy, and literature. 



150 MODEL WOMEN. 



BIOGRAPHY. 



Anne Louisa Germaine Necker, was born at Paris, 
April 22nd, 1766. Her father was the celebrated M. 
decker, finance minister of Lonis XVI., in the times 
immediately preceding the revolution. Her mother 
was the daughter of a Protestant clergyman, and 
would have Ibeen the wife of Gibbon, had not the 
father of the future historian threatened his son with 
disinheritance if he persisted in wooing a bride whose 
dowry consisted only of her own many excellencies. 
Few children have come into the world under more 
favourable auspices. She had wise parents, liberal 
culture, intellectual friends, ample fortune, splendid 
talents, and good health. Her favourite amusement 
during childhood consisted in cutting out paper kings 
and queens, and making them act their part in mimic 
life. Her mother did not approve of this, but found 
it as difficult to stop her daughter from such play, as 
it was to prevent men and women, some years after, 
from playing with kings and queens not made of 
paper. 

The training of their only child was to both parents 
a matter of immense importance. Her talents were 
precociously developed, and whilst yet the merest 
girl, she would listen with eager and intelligent in- 
terest to the conversation of the eminent savans who 
constantly visited her father's house. Without open- 
ing her mouth she seemed to speak in her turn, so 
much expression had her mobile features. When only 
ten years old she conceived the idea of marrying her 
mother's early lover, that he might be retained 
near her parents, both of whom delighted in his com- 



LITERAEY WOMEN. 151 

pany. At the age of twelve slie amused herself in 
writing comedies. 

Perhaps Mademoiselle Necker lost nothing by 
having no regular tutor. The germs of knowledge 
once fairly implanted, an intellect like hers may, like 
the forest sapling, be left to its own powers of growth. 
Roaming through the rural scenes of St. Ouen, her 
mind was enriching itself by observation and reflec- 
tion. Circumstances which would have depressed 
multitudes only quickened her. She turned all things 
to account. Her power of mental assimilation was 
extraordinary. 

In 1786, Mademoiselle Necker was married to the 
Baron de Stael-Holstein, Swedish ambassador at the 
court of Paris. The young Swede was a Protestant, 
amiable, handsome, courtly, and a great favourite 
with royalty. What more could the most fastidious 
require ? It was not fashionable to put intellectual 
features in the bond. Perhaps had she been thirty 
instead of twenty years old, even in France, where 
the filial virtues to a.large extent nullify the conjugal, 
no motherly persuasion nor fatherly approval would 
have induced her to marry a dull, unimaginative man 
like Baron de Stael, for whom she felt no kind of af- 
fection. After a few years a separation took place 
between them, two sons and a daughter having 
been meantime the fruit of their union. In France a 
wife may withdraw from her husband on the plea of 
saving her fortune for her children, and if unprin- 
cipled enough, console herself with another whose 
society she prefers. Madame de Stael was incapable 
of becoming galante. 

On her marriage she opened her saloons, and her 



152 MODEL WOMEN. 

position, wealth, and wit attracted to them the most 
brilliant inhabitants of Paris. At first she does not 
seem to have attained any remarkable degree of cele- 
brity. She was too much of a genins. Paris was 
full of anecdotes about her foibles and infringements 
of etiquette. About this time too she began to pro- 
duce those wonderful books which form an era in the 
history of modern literature, and which demonstrate 
that in intellectual endowment she bad no compeer 
among her sex. As might be expected in a disciple 
of Rousseau, she cherished great expectations in refer- 
ence to the French revolution of 1789 ; but soon ceased 
to admire a movement which discarded her beloved 
father, and began its march towards a reign of terror. 
Madame de Stael suffered dreadfully during the 
period that Maximilien Robespierre headed the popu- 
lace in the Champ de Mars. All the brilliant society 
to which she had been accustomed from the cradle 
were proscribed, or hiding in holes or corners of the 
city they had made so glorious. Liberty, the theme of 
her childish pen, had been metamorphosed into a blood- 
thirsty tyrant. Before midnight on the 9th of August, 
1792, the forty-eight tocsins of the sections began to 
sound. Madame de Stael might have secured her own 
safety by a flight into Switzerland, but she could not 
leave Paris while her friends were in danger, and she 
might be of use to them. The words " Swedish Em- 
bassy," on her door, gave her some security. By her 
passionate eloquence and consummate diplomacy she 
saved M. de Narbonne, and several other distinguished 
persons. On the morning of the 2nd of September, 
she set out from Paris in all the state of an ambassa- 
dress. In a few minutes her carriage was stopped, 



L1TEEART WOMEN. 153 

her servants overpowered, and she herself compelled 
to drive to the Hotel de Ville. When she alighted, 
one fiend in human shape made a thrust at her, and 
she was saved from death only by the policeman who 
accompanied her. She was taken before Robespierre , 
and her carriage might have been torn to pieces and 
herself murdered, but for the interference of a repub- 
lican named Manuel, who on a former occasion had 
felt the power of her eloquence. Next day Manuel 
sent her a policeman to escort her to the frontier, and 
thus Madame de Stael escaped to Coppet. 

Early in 1793, she went to England, and took up 
her residence at Juniper Hall, near Richmond, Sur- 
rey. No one has been able to assign a very distinct 
reason for this journey. Perhaps she came simply to 
breathe the air of liberty, and to become better ac- 
quainted with a couutry she had always loved. At 
all events, she became the centre of a little colony of 
French emigrants. Among the refugees were many 
illustrious people. Their funds were not in a flourish- 
ing condition, but they managed to purchase one 
small carriage, and ex-ministers took their turn to act 
as footmen, when they rode out to see the country. 
The little party was soon scattered. In the summer 
of 1793, Madame de Stael rejoined her father in Swit- 
zerland. At Coppet she devoted her great energy to 
the succour of exiles, and the reconciliation of France 
and England. 

The earliest intercourse between Madame de Stael 
and Napoleon Bonaparte occurred between his return 
from Italy and his departure for Egypt, towards the 
end of 1797. At first she submitted as willingly as 
France — as indeed the whole world, to the fascination 



154 MODEL WOMEN. 

of his genius ; but she was one of the earliest to dis- 
cover that he was merely a skilful chess-player, who 
had chosen the human race as his adversary, and ex- 
pected to checkmate it. She expressed her opinions 
openly and with all the force for which she was cele- 
brated, and they left upon the first man of the day 
many unpleasant impressions. The future emperor 
gathered something from his brother Joseph concern- 
the principles of the most popular saloon in Paris, and 
watched for an opportunity to get rid of such an in- 
fluential foe. Her father wrote a book which gave 
great umbrage. It was not deemed safe to touch 
him ; but he who was reckoned the greatest hero of 
the modern world, was cowardly enough to visit the 
sin of the father upon the daughter ; and so Madame 
de Stael was informed that her presence would be 
tolerated in Paris no longer. In 1802, she was exiled 
from France itself. Rejoining her sick husband, she 
closed his eyes in death at Poligny, and became an 
eligible widow. 

The death of her father in 1804, recalled her 
to Coppet. Subsequently, she was permitted to 
return to Paris. But fresh difficulties occurred with 
Napoleon, and she was banished anew to Coppet. In 
1808, the Baron de Stael, secured an interview with 
the master of the world, and pleaded eloquently on 
behalf of his mother. The inexorable deliverance of 
the emperor is too characteristic and amusing to be 
omitted. " Let her go to Rome, Naples, Vienna, 
Berlin, Milan, Lyons ; if she wants to publish libels, 
let her go to London. I should think of her with 
pleasure in any of those cities ; but Paris, you see, is 
where I live myself, and I want none but those who 



LITEEAEY WOMEN. 155 

love me there.' ' The Baron de Stael renewed his en- 
treaties. " Ton are very young ; if yon were as old as I, 
yon would jndge more accurately ; bnt I like to see a 
son pleading for his mother. If I had pnt her in 
prison, I wonld liberate her, bnt I will not recall her 
from exile. Every one knows that imprisonment is 
misery ; bnt yonr mother need not be miserable when 
all Enrope is left to her." The man of destiny acted 
on the dictate of a sonnd prndential policy. A woman 
so uncompromising and fearless — of snch weight of 
genins and reputation — was not to be tolerated in 
Paris by the head of a government more or less the 
sport of the hour. 

During this stay at Coppet she made the acquaint- 
ance (1810) of a young Italian of good family named 
Rocca, who had fought in the French army in Spain, 
and had gone to Geneva to recover from his wounds. 
The young officer of hussars, aged twenty-five, wor- 
shipped Madame de Stael ; and she, a mature matron 
of forty- six, married him, but the marriage was kept 
secret, in order, it is- said, that she should not be 
obliged to change her celebrated name. 

Napoleon having banished Schlegel, the eminent 
German poet and critic (who had accompanied her. 
in her travels and been tutor to her son), and subjected 
herself to a petty surveillance, she rushed restlessly 
over Europe to Vienna, Moscow, St. Petersburgh, 
thence through Finland to Stockholm. In 1813, she 
arrived in England, and was the lion, or lioness, of at 
' least one London season, the whig aristocracy feting 
her, and Sir James Mackintosh trumpeting her praises 
in the Edinburgh Review. She was celebrated for the 
persecutions she had endured, and as the only person 



15G MODEL WOMEN. 

of note who had stood firm against Napoleon to the 
last. 

At the Restoration, she returned to her beloved 
Paris. Prom Louis XVIII. she met with the most 
gracious reception ; and restitution was made to her 
of two million livres long due to her father from the 
royal treasury. But her old foe was only caged. He 
broke the bars of his prison, cleared the inconstant 
court in a few hours, was hailed by the army and the 
people, and spared none who had taken part in the 
restoration. " I felt," she says, " when I heard of his 
coining, as if the ground yawned beneath my feet." 
In the spring of 1816, she was at Coppet, the centre 
of a brilliant circle, with Lord Byron near her at 
the Villa Diodati. To Madame de Stael, Paris was 
the centre of the world, and accordingly in the autumn 
of this year we find her there again, the lady-leader of 
the Constitutionalists. In her saloon might have been 
seen Wellington and Blucher, Humboldt and Cha- 
teaubriand, Sismondi and Constant, the two Schlegels, 
Canova the sculptor, and Madame Reeamier, whom the 
defeat of Napoleon had once more restored to liberty. 

But she did not long enjoy the society of the metro- 
polis which she loved so well. In February, 1817, she 
was seized with a violent fever. On her deathbed she 
said to Chateaubriand, "I have loved God, my father, 
and liberty." The royal family were constant inquirers 
after her health, and the Duke of Wellington called 
daily at her door to ask if hope might yet remain. 
At two o'clock on Monday, the 14th July, she died in 
perfect peace, at the age of fifty- one. The day of her 
death was the anniversary of the Revolution which 
had exerted so great an influence on her life. 



LITERARY WOMEN. 157 

She died at Paris, but her dnst was laid beside the 
dust of her father at Coppet. Perhaps no one ever 
felt more strongly the stirrings of the soul within 
than Madame de Stael. So long as genius and 
patriotism and piety can excite the admiration of the 
world, so long will her tomb be one of the holiest 
shrines of the imagination. 

ANALYSIS OF WRITINGS. 

Madame de Stael may be safely pronounced the 
greatest writer who has yet appeared among women. 
At an early age, she applied herself to literary com- 
position, and produced several plays and tales. To 
the elements of genius, intellect, intelligence, and 
imaginalion, God added the vehemence of passion, 
and she became the highest representative of female 
authorship. We humbly submit that it is impossible 
to read her incomparable works without feeling the 
soul elate, and seeing a glory not of earth shed over 
this mortal scene. A philosophy profounder than the 
philosophy of the schools is the imperishable legacy 
she has left to posterity. She wrote neither to please 
nor to surprise, but to profit others; and whatever 
may be the faults or defects of her writings, they 
have this greatest of all merit, — intense, life-pervading, 
and life-breathing truth. 

In 1788, on the eve of the Revolution, she issued her 
first work of note, the eloquent and enthusiastic "Let- 
tres sur les Ecrits et le Caractere de J. J. Rousseau." 
These letters are, however, rather a girlish eulogy 
than a just and discriminating criticism. The news 
of the king's execution on the 21st of January, 1793, 



158 MODEL WOMEN. 

inexpressibly shocked her ; and in the month of August, 
she sought to save the life of the queen, by publishing 
''Reflexions sur le Proces de la Eeine, par une Femme." 
In this appeal, which deserves to rank among the 
classics of the human race, her first word is to her 
own sex. She then refers to her illustrious client's 
devotion to her husband and children ; labours to show 
that the death of the queen would be prejudicial to 
the republic ; then draws a picture of what she must 
have suffered during her imprisonment, and argues 
that, if guilty, she has been sufficiently punished. 
Her pleadings for the fallen queen were too late to 
be effective. In 1794, she issued a pamphlet, entitled 
" Reflexions sur la Paix, adressees a M. Pitt et aux 
Francais." The stand-point of this spirited brochure 
is that of a friend of Lafayette, the Constitutionalists 
of France, and a British Foxite. The next pamphlet 
she published, was in 1795: " Reflexions sur la Paix 
Interieure." It is a valuable contribution to the poli- 
tical history of the times ; but as it was never sold to 
the public, we shall not dwell upon it. This year also, 
she published at Lausanne, under the title "Recueil 
de Morceaux Detaches," a collection of her juvenile 
writings. This work manifests an intimate knowledge 
'of the principal romances, not only of France, but of 
Europe. In the summer of 1796, her work — "De 
l'lnfluence des Passions sur le Bonheur des Individus et 
des Nations," a work full of originality and genius. 
She treated first of the passions ; then of the senti- 
ments which are intermediate between the passions 
and the resources which we find in ourselves ; and 
finally, of the resources which we find in ourselves. 
Here she first revealed her almost unequalled power 



LITERARY WOMEN. 159 

as a delineator of the human passions. In 1800, she 
published, " De la Litterature Considered dans ses Rap- 
ports avec les Institutions sociales." This work must 
take an abiding place in the history of the female 
mind. Few, if any, of her contemporaries of the male 
sex could have executed it ; and none of her own sex 
could have planned it. "Delphine" was published in 
1802. This romance greatly increased her reputation ; 
although subjected to much adverse criticism. But 
far superior to it in every respect was "Corinne," which 
appeared in 1807, and which breathes in every page 
the glowing and brilliant Italy which it partly paints. 
Its success was instant and immense, and won for her 
a really European reputation. " De l'Allemagne," was 
printed at Paris in 1810, but not published. The 
whole edition was seized by the police ; the plea after- 
wards given for its suppression being that it was an 
anti-national work. Several years afterwards, it was 
published in London. This celebrated work consists 
of four parts : Germany, and the German manners ; 
literature and the arts; philosophy and morals; 
religion and enthusiasm. Sir James Mackintosh 
considered it the most elaborate and masculine pro- 
duction of the faculties of woman. It exhibits 
throughout an almost unparalleled union of graceful 
vivacity and philosophical ingenuity, and, according 
to Goethe, broke down the Chinese wall of prejudice 
which separated the rest of Europe from the fruitful 
and flowery empire of German thought and imagina- 
tion. Her unfinished and posthumous book — "Dix 
Annees d'Exil," was an impassioned denunciation of 
Napoleon and his arbitrary rule. The whole was 
evidently written under a galling sense of oppression 



160 MODEL WOMEN. 

and wrong. The famous work, " Considerations sur 
la Revolution Francaise," was also posthumous. 

Prom this necessarily imperfect analysis of Madame 
de StaeTs writings, it will be seen that she was 
endowed in the very "prodigality of heaven " with 
genius of a creative order, with boundless fertility of 
fancy, with an intellect of intense electric light, with a 
tendency to search out the very quintessence of feeling, 
and with an eloquence of the most impassioned kind. 
" She could mount up with wings as an eagle, she 
could run and not be weary, she could walk and not 
be faint.' ' 

CHARACTER OF MADAME DE STAEL. 

We enjoy the immense advantage of studying 
Madame de Stael from a distance that is neither too 
great nor too little ; but she presents so many sides, 
that it would be presumption on our part to expect 
to render anything like a full and true portrait. She 
had a good physical constitution, which is of far more 
importance than many clever people seem to imagine. 
Her personal appearance was plain ; she had no good 
feature but her eyes. Yet by her astonishing powers 
of speech she made herself even more than agreeable. 
Tears increased her charms. Her beauty — if we 
may so call it — was of the kind which improves with 
time. 

Madame de Stael had a vast intellect and a burning 
nature — the sensibility of a woman and the strength 
of a giant. She has been said to resemble Mrs. 
Thrale in the ardour and warmth of her partialities. 
M. L. Chenier, Benjamin Constant, M. de Bonald, M. 



LITERARY WOMEN. 161 

Villemain, M. Sainte-Beuve, have each in his turn 
testified admiration of her brilliant capacity, almost 
always oratorical, and especially distinguished by an 
unrivalled superabundance and movement and ardour 
of thought. Napoleon Bonaparte feared her more 
than any of his talking and writing opponents. 
"Why do you take any notice of her? surely you 
need not mind a woman ! " " That woman has shafts 
which would reach a man if he were mounted on a 
rainbow ! " 

There is little to be said against her. There is no 
doubt of her vanity — but she had something to be 
vain of. The concealment of her second marriage 
was foolish ; but she confessed it upon her deathbed 
to her children, and recommended to their protection 
the young child that had been its fruit. Yet blame 
her for these faults as we may, we must still admire 
her, as an affectionate daughter, a devoted wife, and 
a loving mother ; as a leader of society, and yet free 
from its vices. She was noted for candour, integrity, 
and kindness. French by birth, Swiss by lineage, 
Swedish by marriage, English, German, Italian, and 
Spanish by the adoptive power of sympathy and 
knowledge, she belonged rather to Europe than to 
France, and after French writers have done their best, 
there will still remain points of view which only a 
non-Frenchman can seize and occupy. 



M 



162 MODEL WOMEN. 



SECTION IV.— CAROLINA, BARONESS 
NAIRNE. 

" For winning simplicity, graceful expression, and exquisite 
pathos, her compositions are specially remarkable ; but when 
her muse prompts to humour, the laugh is sprightly and 
overpowering.' ' Charles Rogers, LL.D. 



WHAT IS POETRY ? 

It is much easier to give a negative than a positive 
answer to this question. All that we seem to have 
arrived at is, Poeta nascihtr non fit; and that no 
amount or kind of culture can bestow the divine 
afflatus. Hesiod, in his "Theogony," exhibits the 
Muses in the performance of their highest functions, 
singing choral hymns to their Heavenly Father, but 
gives no proper definition of poetry. Aristotle, in 
his treatise on "The Poetic," does not explain its 
essence, but merely its principal forms. Dr. Johnson 
has attempted to define poetry in these words : 
" Poetry is the art of uniting pleasure with truth, by 
calling imagination to the aid of reason.' ' But it is 
well known that poetry often unites pleasure to what 
is not truth. According to Dr. Blair, " Poetry is the 
language of passion or enlivened imagination, formed 
most commonly into regular numbers." This seems 
a pretty near approach to a true definition. Still it 
is defective, for there are parts of poetry which are 
not included either under " passion or enlivened 
imagination." Competent critics will admit that a 
true definition seizes and exhibits the distinctive 
element and speciality of the thing defined; and 



LITERARY WOMEN. 163 

tried by this test every definition we are acquainted 
with fails in doing the very thing required — deter- 
mining what may be called the " differential mark " 
of poetry. Perhaps this question, which has so long 
puzzled the literary world, may be incapable of a 
categorical answer, but it seems to us essentially to 
consist of fine thoughts, deeply felt, and expressed in 
vivid and melodious language. Poets and poetesses 
see farther than other people, feel more deeply, and 
utter what they see and feel better. All history 
testifies that the poetry which has come down to us 
most deeply stamped with approbation, and which 
appears most likely to see and glorify the ages of the 
future, has been penetrated and inspired by moral 
purpose, and warmed by religious feeling. Our great 
kings and queens of song, a»re alike free from morbid 
weakness, moral pollution, and doubtful speculation. 
Such only may hope to send their names down, in 
thunder and in music, through the echoing aisles of 
the future. All lasting fame must rest on a good 
foundation. 



BIOGRAPHY. 

The maiden name of the subject of this sketch was 
Carolina Oliphant. She was the third daughter and 
fifth child of Laurence Oliphant, Esq., of Gask, 
Perthshire, who had espoused his cousin Margaret 
Robertson, a daughter of Duncan Robertson, of 
Strowan, and his wife a daughter of the second Lord 
Nairne. The Oliphants of Gask were cadets of the 
formerly noble house of Oliphant ; whose ancestor, 
Sir William Oliphant, of Aberdalgie, a powerful 

m 2 



164 MODEL WOMEN. 

knight, acquired distinction in the beginning of the 
fourteenth century by defending the castle of Stirling, 
against a formidable siege by the first Edward. 
Carolina was born in the mansion house of Gask, on 
the 16th of July, 1766. Her father was so keen a 
Jacobite, that she, along with other two of his 
children, were named after Prince Charles Edward. 
Even the Prayer-Books which he put into his children's 
hands had the names of the exiled family pasted over 
those of the reigning one. He could not bear the 
name of the " German lairdie and his leddy," to be 
mentioned in his presence, and when any of the 
family read the newspapers to him, the reader was 
sharply reproved if their majesties were designated 

anything else than the " K and Q ." The 

antecedents of the family naturally produced this 
strong feeling. Carolina's father and grandfather 
had borne arms under Prince Charles in the fatal 
campaign of 1745-6, which crushed for ever the hopes 
of the Stuarts ; and her grandmother had a lock from 
the hair of the young Chevalier, which was given to 
her the day it was cut. 

The childhood of Carolina Oliphant was thus passed 
amidst family traditions eminently fitted to stir her 
warm imagination. Not only so, the natural surround- 
ings of her home were of the kind to nourish the 
poetic faculty. It was the 

" Land of brown heath and shaggy wood, 
Land of the mountain and the flood, " 

where green vales bedeck the landscape with verdure 
and beauty ; farmhouses stand half-way up the braes, 
shadowed with birches ; and old castles frown in 



LITERARY WOMEN. 165 

feudal dignity. Amid such magic scenes, Miss 
Oliphant grew into that loving familiarity with 
nature in all its various moods, which imparts to her 
verses one of their many charms. She entered 
eagerly into all the pleasures which the world can 
afford its votaries. So energetic was she in her 
gaiety, that " finding at a ball, in a watering-place, 
that the ladies were too few for the dance, she drove 
home, and awoke a young friend at midnight, and 
stood in waiting till she was equipped to follow her 
to the dance." 

But although no mere selfish, frivolous, fine lady, 
bent solely upon her own enjoyments, yet it might 
be said of her, " one thing thou lackest." That best 
gift, however, was soon to be hers. The kingdom of 
heaven was brought near to her, and through grace, 
unlike the young man in the gospel, she did not turn 
away because of her possessions. " She was on a 
visit to the old castle of Murthly, where an English 
clergyman had also arrived. He was a winner of 
souls. At morning worship she was in her place with 
the household, and listened to what God's ambassador 
said on the promise, ' Him that cometh unto Me I will 
in no wise cast out.' That forenoon she was seen no 
more. When she appeared again her beautiful face 
was spoiled with weeping. Beneath the eye of faith, 
how does the aspect of all things change ! She had 
caught a glimpse of the glory of the Son of God, and 
burned with love to Him of whom she could hence- 
forth say, 'Whose I am and whom I serve.' Her 
pen, her pencil, her harp, as afterwards her coronet, 
were laid at His feet, to be henceforth used, used up 
by and for the King." 






166 MODEL WOMEN. 



Many lovers had sought in vain the hand of Miss 
Carolina Oliphant, but on June the 6th, 1806, she 
married her maternal cousin William Murray Nairne, 
who was Inspector- General of Barracks in Scotland, 
and held the rank of major in the army. His hereditary 
title was Baron Nairne, but it was one of the titles 
attainted by the rebellion. 

Her wedded life was one of great happiness. Blest 
in the husband of her fondest affection, and encircled 
with all the endearing delights of domestic enjoy- 
ment, the union was a delightful one ; the husband 
and wife lived as joint-heirs of the grace of life ; one 
in the family, in the social circle, and in the house of 
God; singing the same song, joining in the same 
prayer, and feasting on the same comforts. The sun 
seldom rose on a happier habitation. An only child, 
William, was born in 1808. 

Mrs. Nairne seems to have judged correctly as to 
her true vocation. Shocked with the grossness of 
the songs in popular use, she determined to purify the 
lyrics of her country ; and while doing this she con- 
trived carefully to conceal the worker. First she sent 
some verses to the president of an agricultural dinner 
held in the neighbourhood. They were received with 
great approbation, and set to music. Thus en- 
couraged, song followed song, — some humorous, some 
pathetic, but all vastly superior in simple poetic 
power, as well as moral tone, to those she was anxious 
to supplant. Soon her lyrics were scattered broad- 
cast over the land, carrying pure and elevated senti- 
ments, and even religious truth, into many a neglected 
home. Through the influence of a lady, who knew 
her claims as a poetess, she was induced in 1821 



LITERARY WOMEN. 167 

to contribute to a collection of national songs, 
which was being published by Mr. Robert Purdie, an 
enterprising music- seller in Edinburgh. Her con- 
tributions were signed "B. B." and Mr. Purdie and 
his editor, Mr. R. A. Smith, were under the im- 
pression that the popular authoress was Mrs. Bogan, 
of Bogan. The songs of " B. B." were sung in all the 
chief towns by professed vocalists, and were every- 
where hailed with applause. Public curiosity was 
aroused as to the authorship, and the question was 
debated in the newspapers, to the great alarm of the 
real authoress. 

In 1822, George the Fourth, who had considerable 
intellectual ability, and some virtues as well as frail- 
ties, although no man of Mr. Thackeray's abilities 
has set himself to look for the former, visited Scot- 
land, and heard Mrs. Nairne's song, " The Attainted 
Scottish Nobles" sung: this circumstance is gene- 
rally supposed to have led to the restoration of the 
peerage to her husband. At all events, in 1824, the 
attainder was removed by Act of Parliament, and the 
title of his fathers bestowed on Major Nairne. 

On July the 9th, 1830, Lady Nairne became a 
widow. The trial was ill to bear. But she had one 
availing consolation, she knew his star had set on 
this world, to rise and shine in brighter skies : vital 
Christianity was as visible in her departed husband, 
as the broad black seal that death had stamped upon 
his brow. He had gone before to the presence of that 
Saviour whom they had loved and served together. 

Her son, now in his twenty- second year, succeeded 
to the title of his father. With that wondrous 
solicitude which fills a mother's heart towards her 



168 MODEL WOMEN. 

only child, Lady Nairne had watched the training 
of her boy ; and she had a rich reward. He grew up 
no mere devotee of mammon, or fashion, or fame, 
bat a youth of good intellectual powers, high moral 
qualities, and sound religious principles — all that a 
Christian mother could desire. But alas ! this gourd 
was doomed to perish also. In the spring of 1837, 
the young baron suffered much from influenza, and 
for the benefit of his health he went to Brussels, 
accompanied by his mother. There he caught a 
severe cold, and after an illness of six weeks, died on 
the 7th of December, 1837. Her heart bled for her 
son, but no murmur escaped her lips. She was con- 
tent that Christ should come into her garden and 
pluck the sweetest flower. Yet she deeply felt her 
loss. " I sometimes say to myself," she wrote to a 
friend, "this is - no me,' so greatly have my feelings 
and trains of thought changed since 'auld lang syne,' 
and though I am made to know assuredly that all is 
well, I scarcely dare to allow my mind to settle on 
the past." 

" Hast thou sounded the depth of yonder sea, 
And counted the sands that under it be ? 
Hast thou measured the height of heaven above ? — 
Then mayest thou mete out a mother's love." 

After this sad event Lady Nairne might have been 
seen taking her walk in a cool anteroom, " passing and 
repassing the bust of her darling son, and stopping 
as often to gaze on it, then replacing the white hand- 
kerchief that covered it to keep it pure." 

In her old age Lady Nairne resided chiefly on 
the Continent, and frequently at Paris; but the 



LITEEARY WOMEN. 169 

last two years of her life were spent at Gask. 
Feeble in body and worn in spirit, on the verge of 
another world, where praise or censure is nothing, 
her interest in the salvation of sonls was as fresh as 
ever. To the teacher of a school where children 
were daily tanght, she thns delivered her sentiments 
on the great snbject of edncation. " Ton say they 
like 6 The Happy Land ' best : is the gospel in it ? 
Repeat it." Her eager eye watched each line till she 
should hear what satisfied her. She then said, " It's 
pretty, very sweet ; bnt it might be clearer. Remem- 
ber, nnless the work of Christ for them as sinners 
comes in, — the ransom, the substitution, — what yon 
teach is worthless for their sonls." On Snnday, 
the 26th of October, 1845, in the mansion honse 
of Gask, she qnietly sank to the rest she had so long 
looked for, at the advanced age of seventy-nine 
years. 

Not in the crowded cemetery of the city, where 
many of the wise, mighty, and noble have been laid 
down to repose ; bnt in the lovely churchyard among 
the monntains of her own pictnresqne connty, where 
the " mde forefathers of the hamlet lie," did a weep- 
ing crowd commit the remains of Lady Nairne to the 
cold gronnd. The bnrial service was read by the 
Rev. Sir William Dunbar, Bart. 



EXTRACTS AND CRITICISMS. 

One good song is sufficient to secnre immortality. 
Sappho lives in virtue of a single song. What then 
shall we say of Lady Nairne who has bequeathed 
more of these imperishable breathings to her country 



170 MODEL WOMEN. 

and to the world than any Caledonian bard, Burns 
alone excepted. The lyrics of Scotland were cha- 
racterized by a loose ribaldry, she resolved to supply 
songs of a higher type. Take the following verses as 
a specimen of the good common sense, the cheerful 
practical philosophy, which, joined to poetic imagery, 
made its way to the hearts of the people. 

" Saw ye ne'er a lanely lassie, 
Thinkin' gin she were a wife, 
The sun of joy wad ne'er gae down, 
But warm and cheer her a' her life. 

" Saw ye ne'er a weary wifie, 
Thinkin' gin she were a lass 
She wad aye be blithe and eheerie, 
Lightly as the day wad pass. 

" Wives and lassies, young and aged, 
Think na on each ither's state ; 
Ilka ane it has its crosses, 
Mortal joy was ne'er complete. 

" Ilka ane it has its blessings ; 
Peevish dinna pass them by ; 
Seek them out like bonnie berries, 
Tho' amang the thorns they lie." 

In 1824, " The Scottish Minstrel " was completed 
in six volumes, royal octavo, and Mr. Purdie and his 
editor, Mr. Smith, still believing " B. B." to stand 
for Mrs. Bogan of Bogan, said, " In particular the 
editors would have felt happy in being permitted to 
enumerate the many original and beautiful verses 
that adorn their pages, for which they are indebted 
to the author of the much admired song, ' The Land 
o' the Leal;' but they fear to wound a delicacy which 
shrinks from all observation.' ' " The Land o' the 



LITERARY WOMEN. 171 

Leal " well deserved tlie praise bestowed upon it. 
The name alone is a triumph of word-painting. .Who 
that has heard it sung in a Scotch gloaming to a 
group of eager listeners will not confirm our words, 
that there is no song, not even of Burns, nor of 
Moore, nor of Beranger, nor of Heine, which 
approaches on its own ground " The Land o' the 
Leal"? It was written for relatives of Lady 
Nairne's, who had lost a child ; its pathos is most 
exquisite. 

"I'm wearin' awa, John, 
Like snaw-wreaths in thaw, John, 
I'm wearin' awa 

To the land o' the leal. 
There's nae sorrow there, John ; 
There's neither cauld nor care, John ; 
The day's aye fair 

In the land o' the leal. 

" Our bonnie bairn's there, John, 
She was baith good and fair, John ; 
And, oh T we grudged her sair 

To the land o' the leal. 
But sorrow's sel' wears past, John, 
And joy's a-comm' fast, John — 
The joy that 's aye to last, 

In the land o' the leal. 

" Sae dear's that joy was bought, John, 
Sae free the battle fought, John, 
That sinfu' man ne'er brought 

To the land o' the leal. 
Oh, dry your glistening e'e, John ! 
My soul langs to be free, John ; 
And angels beckon me 

To the land o' the leal. 



172 MODEL WOMEN. 

" Oh, haud ye leal and true, John ! 
Your day it's wearin' through, John ; 
And I'll welcome you 

To the land o' the leal. 
Now fare-ye-weel, my ain John, 
This warld's cares are vain, John ; 
We'll meet, and we'll be fain, 

In the land o' the leal." 

The humorous and highly popular song entitled 
"The Laird o' Cockpen," was composed by Lady 
Nairne, in room of the older words connected with the 
air, " When she cam' ben, she bobbit." This is a song 
which every member of every Scotch audience has 
heard crooned or chirped in glee and waggery. It is 
matchless alike as respects scene and dramatis per- 
sonal, its fine suggestive touches, and its Scotch wut. 
The present Laird of Cockpen is the Earl of Dal- 
housie, an elder of the Free Church of Scotland, and 
grand-master of the Masonic Lodge of Scotland. 
We shall give this song also entire. The different 
style illustrates the genius of the authoress. 

" The Laird o' Cockpen he's proud and he's great, 
His mind is ta'en up with the things o' the state ; 
He wanted a wife his braw house to keep, 
But favour wi' wooin' was fashious to seek. 

11 Down by the dyke- side a lady did dwell, 
At his table-head he thought she'd look well ; 
M'Clish's ae daughter o' Claverse-ha' Lee, 
A penniless lass wi' a lang pedigree. 

" His wig was weel pouthered and as gude as new ; 
His waistcoat was white, his coat it was blue ; 
He put on a ring, a sword, and cocked hat ; 
And wha could refuse the laird wi' a' that ? 



LITERAEY WOMEN. 173 

" He took the gray mare, and rade cannily, 
And rapped at the yett o' Claverse-ha' Lee : 

* G-ae tell mistress Jean to come speedily ben, 
She's wanted to speak to the Laird o' Cockpen.' 

" Mistress Jean was makin' the elder-flower wine : 

* And what brings the laird at sic a like time ? ' 
She put aff her apron, and on her silk gown, 
Her mutch wi' red ribbons, and gaed awa down. 

11 And when she cam' ben, he bowed fu' low, 
And what was his errand he soon let her know : 
Amazed was the laird when the lady said ' Na,' 
And wi' a laigh curtsey she turned awa'. 

"Dumbfoundered he was — nae sigh did he gie ; 
He mounted his mare — he rade cannily ; 
And aften he thought, as he gaed through the glen, 
She's daft to refuse the Laird o' Cockpen. 

" And now that the laird his exit had made, 
Mistress Jean she reflected on what she had said : 
* Oh ! for ane I'll get better, its waur I'll get ten ! 
I was daft to refuse the Laird o' Cockpen.' 

*' Next time the laird and the lady were seen, 
They were gauin' arm-in-arm to the kirk on the green ; 
Now she sits in the ha' like a weel-tappit hen — 
But as yet there's nae chickens appeared at Cockpen." 

Her song, " Caller Herrin," has acquired exten- 
sive pupularity. The late John Wilson, the eminent 
vocalist, sung it in every principal town in the king- 
dom. In the touching lines a Rest is not here," she 
embodied her own experience. The beautiful piece 
entitled "Would you be young again? " was com- 
posed in her seventy-sixth year. 

Dr. Rogers has recently done justice to her memory 
by the publication of her life and songs. In this 
elegant book, a new edition of which has already 



174 MODEL WOMEN. 

been called for, there is an excellent portrait of the 
Baroness. The songs in the present volume may be 
confidently accepted as being certainly composed by 
the gifted authoress. 



CHARACTER OF BARONESS NAIRNE. 

In youth, Lady Nairne was distinguished for her 
personal charms and her devotion to the pursuits of 
the world. So remarkable was the beauty of her face 
and the elegance of her shape, that she was called 
"The Flower of Strathearn." In her mature years 
her countenance wore a somewhat pensive cast. 

She was endowed with gifts many and various. 
Possessed of a strong intellect, as well as a beautiful 
fancy, all learning was easily acquired. Her delights 
lay in the cultivation of an elegant imagination, and 
in the enjoyment of those pleasures which can only 
be tasted by a mind of a refined order. Capable of 
describing the play of human passions in a manner 
which awoke the deepest emotions of the heart, her 
songs became the theme of every tongue. 

To promote both the spiritual and temporal wel- 
fare of her fellow- creatures, she gave largely of her 
means. Dr. Chalmers, in an address delivered at 
Edinburgh, on the 29th December, 1845, said, — " she 
wanted me to enumerate a list of charitable objects, 
in proportion to the estimate I had of their value. 
Accordingly, I furnished her with a scale of about 
five or six charitable objects. The highest in the 
scale were those institutions which have for their 
design the Christianizing of the people at home ; and 
I also mentioned to her what we were doing in the 



LITERARY WOMEN. 175 

West Port ; and there came to me from her in the 
course of a day or two no less a sum than £300. 
She is now dead ; she is now in her grave, and her 
works do follow her. When she gave me this noble 
benefaction, she laid me under strict injunctions of 
secrecy, and, accordingly, I did not mention her name 
to any person ; but after she was dead, I begged of 
her nearest heir that I might be allowed to proclaim 
it, because I thought that her example, so worthy to 
be followed, might influence others in imitating her, 
and I am happy to say that I am now at liberty to 
state that it was Lady Nairne, of Perthshire.' ' 



SECTION V,— FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS. 

"As a female writer, influencing the female mind, she has 
undoubtedly stood, for some by-past years, the very first in the 
first rank ; and this pre-eminence has been acknowledged, not 
only in her own land, but wherever the English tongue is spoken, 
whether on the banks of the eastern Ganges or the western 
Mississippi." David Macbeth Mont. [A.] 



LYRIC POETRY. 

This species of poetry sets forth the inward occur- 
rences of the writer's or speaker's own mind — con- 
cerns itself with the thoughts and emotions. It is 
called lyric, because it was originally accompanied by 
the music of that instrument. Purely lyrical pieces 
are from their nature short, and fall into several divi- 
sions, which are again subdivided into psalms and 



176 MODEL WOMEN. 

songs. Passion, genius, a teeming brain, a palpitating 
heart, and a soul on fire, are necessary to lyrical com- 
position. The poetry that lives among the people, 
must indeed be simple — but the simplest feelings are 
the deepest, and when adequately expressed, are im- 
mortal. The song-writer and the psalmist are equally 
divine ; and the rich and noble melodies which they 
send abroad from their resounding lyres, the world 
claims as an inheritance. True lyrics themselves 
may be weak and wandering, but the children of their 
brains are strong and immortal. Empires may pass 
away, but the ecstatic ether which they breathe on 
the world, shall remain. That sweet psalm, " The 
Lord is my Shepherd," was drawn by David from 
the strings of a well-tuned instrument, and it ex- 
presses the feelings of Christians in the nineteenth 
century, just as well as it did those of the devout in 
the long ages before Christ. The child commits it to 
memory, and the dying believer sings it with a heart 
empty of care and full of gladness. In " Auld Robin 
Gray," Lady Anne Barnard spoke from her inmost 
heart. It instantly became popular, and has come 
down to us entire, as if all things had conspired that 
such a perfect, tender, and affecting song of humble 
life should never perish ; but must be sung and wept 
over while the earth endureth. The lyric poetry of a 
country is characteristic of its manners. 

BIOGRAPHY. 

In the year 1786, George Browne, Esq., an eminent 
Liverpool merchant, married Miss Wagner, daughter 
of the Imperial and Tuscan consul. All the off- 



LITERARY WOMEN. 177 

spring of this marriage were distinguished by superior 
gifts, cultivated talents, and refined taste. Felicia 
Dorothea, the fifth child, was born in Duke Street, 
on the 25th of September, 1793, and was early found 
to be endowed with the two most coveted of earthly 
gifts- — beauty and genius. 

The first six years of her life, were passed in wealth 
and ease, but at the close of the century, in con- 
sequence of commercial difficulties, her father broke 
up his establishment at Liverpool, and removed to 
the sea-coast of Denbighshire, in North Wales, near 
the little town of Abergele, and shortly afterwards 
emigrated to America, where he died. The education 
of Felicia Browne thus devolved exclusively on her 
mother; and under her judicious instruction, she 
learned with facility the elements of general know- 
ledge — evinced peculiar aptness for the acquisition of 
languages, drawing, and music — and derived infor- 
mation with extraordinary ease, quickness, and clear- 
ness, from all things visible, audible, and tangible. 
The air at Gwrych is salubrious, and the scenery 
around beautiful; and- often in after-years did the 
gifted poetess recall those happy hours spent by the 
sea- shore, listening to the cadence of the waves ; or 
passed in the old house, gazing across the intervening 
meadows on a range of magnificent mountains ; or 
consumed in the vale of Clwyd, searching for 
primroses. 

Mountains, the sea, and London, have been pro- 
nounced important points in education. Felicia 
Browne had long enjoyed the first and the second, 
and at the age of eleven completed the mind-enlarging 
triad, by paying a visit to the great metropolis. But 

N 



178 MODEL WOMEN. 

despite the attractions of music, the drama, and works 
of art, the contrast between the hard pavement, 
crowded streets, and social constraint of London, and 
the glory, freshness, and freedom of her monntain 
home, made her more anxious to get away than ever 
she had been to come. Soon after she appeared in 
print, and the harsh animadversions of reviewers 
probably ignorant of the years of the anthoress, so 
distressed the sensitive aspirant as to bring on an 
illness. In 1809, the family left Gwrych, and went 
to reside at Bronwylfa, near St. Asaph, in Flintshire. 
Here the work of intellectual development progressed 
steadily ; and Miss Browne, already mistress of French 
and Italian, acquired the Spanish and Portuguese, 
with the rudiments of German. 

In 1812, she was married to Captain Hemans, of 
the 4th foot, lately returned from Spanish service ; 
and removed to Daventry with her husband, who was 
appointed adjutant to the Northamptonshire militia. 
The union was not a happy one. Mrs. Hemans had 
a splendid imagination, generous and active feelings, 
and a fine frank nature, which made her popular 
wherever she went. Captain Hemans was a hand- 
some well-bred soldier, but of a cold methodical 
constitution, as destitute of the romantic element as 
the branches of trees in winter of all the green, soft 
luxury of foliage. There never has been a true 
marriage in this world without sympathy between 
the husband and the wife. A man of Captain 
Hemans' temper was incapable of making a woman 
constituted like Mrs. Hemans permanently happy. 
In 1818, after the birth of five children, all sons, a 
separation took place, ostensibly because the captain, 



LITEEAEY WOMEN. 179 

whose health was failing, was advised to try the 
effect of a warmer climate. He went to Italy, and 
she remained in England. They never saw each 
other afterwards. 

Subsequently to a step- which virtually amounted 
to a divorce, Mrs. Hemans and her children remained 
under her mother's roof at Bronwylfa till the spring 
of 1825, when Mrs. Browne, with her daughter and 
orand-children, removed to Rhyllon, a comfortable 
house about a quarter of a mile distant, on the 
opposite side of the river Clwyd, with Bronwylfa in 
full sight. While domiciled at Ehyllon, Miss Jews- 
bury, with whom she had previously been in corre- 
spondence, frequently visited her and soothed her 
perturbed feelings. Mrs. Hemans took great delight 
in the company of Miss Jewsbury, and always ex- 
pressed her sense of obligation to her for leading her 
more fully into the spirit of Wordsworth's poetry, 
and for making her acquainted with many of his com- 
positions. One autumn, on his return from exploring 
Snowdon, James Montgomery, like a true poet, came 
to Rhyllon, to offer honest homage to Mrs. Hemans. 
Her pious and excellent mother died on the 11th of 
' January, 1827, and soon after Mrs. Hemans removed 
\ to Wavertree, near Liverpool. Writing to a friend 
1 concerning the sorrows and conflicts of this period, 
she exclaims : " Oh, that I could lift up my heart, 
and sustain it at that height where alone the calm 
sunshine is!" Yet there were many alleviating cir- 
cumstances connected with this migration. She was 
returning to the great seaport in which she was born, 
whose streets she had occasionally trodden, whose 
B spires she had often seen, and which the inhabitants 

n 2 



180 MODEL WOMEN. 

of Denbighshire and Flintshire had taught her to 
regard as a North Welsh metropolis. But the 
leaving of Wales was a great trial, and greatly 
augmented by the affectionate regrets and enthu- 
siastic blessings of the Welsh peasants, who kissed 
the very gate-hinges through which she had passed. 
In her first letter from Wavertree to St. Asaph, she 
writes : ' " Oh, that Tuesday morning ! I literally 
covered my face all the way from Bronwylfa, until 
the boys told me we had passed the Clwyd range of 
hills. Then something of the bitterness was over." 
For the first time in her life she now took upon her- 
self the sole responsibility of household management, 
became liable to the harassing cares of practical life, 
and subject to the formal restraints belonging to a 
great commercial town and its suburbs. In ex- 
changing the ranges of the great hills, for long rows 
of houses — the blue seas and fresh breezes, for dirty 
wharves and dingy warehouses — familiar and loving 
faces, for the rude stare of strangers, and the simper 
of affected courtesy — her feelings experienced a series 
of shocks ; and she held back from the gay world, 
and sought social pleasure in the company of a few 
chosen friends. 

In 1829, having accepted an invitation to visit 
Scotland, where her writings had raised up for her a 
host of admirers, accompanied by her two elder sons 
and her maid, she embarked for the Firth of Forth. 
On their arrival in Edinburgh, her name won general 
homage, and all kinds of attention were lavished upon 
her, by the flower of its literature. Remaining a few 
days, with a keen but mournful interest, she wandered 
through the antique streets, wynds, and closes of the 



LITERARY WOMEN. 181 

romantic capital; examined the castle, whose huge 
battlements command a panorama to which there are 
few, if any, parallels on earth; visited the Calton 
Hill, broken with cliffs, enamelled with golden furze, 
feathered with trees, and studded with monuments 
for the mighty dead ; spent some time at Holyrood 
Palace, where the young, brilliant, and beautiful 
Mary reigned in queenly splendour ; and having 
become acquainted with the principal objects of local 
interest, proceeded to Roxburghshire. At Abbotsford 
— that "romance of stone and mortar," as it has 
been termed — Sir Walter Scott received her and her 
boys, and treated them with princely hospitality. On 
leaving Abbotsford, she remarks, " I shall not forget 
the kindness of Sir Walter's farewell, so frank, and 
simple, and heartfelt, as he said to me, ' There are 
some whom we meet, and should like ever after to 
claim as kith and kin ; and you are one of those.' ' 
During this sojourn, she became acquainted with 
many eminent persons, and when on the point of 
leaving, was persuaded to sit for a bust. The neces- 
sary process having been gone through, she returned 
to England. 

In 1830, longing again for rural quiet 5 she visited 
the lakes and Mr. Wordsworth. In walking and 
riding, in boating on Windermere, in sketching woody 
mountains, in conversing with the meditative poet, 
and in writing poetry to absent friends, time glided 
rapidly away. 

At the earnest and repeated solicitations of her 
northern friends, she revisited Scotland, and had the 
severity of the climate not threatened to be fatal to 
her, she would have glady fixed her future home in 



182 MODEL WOMEN. 

Dunedin. She made a voyage to Dublin, to ascertain 
its suitablility as a place of residence. From Dublin she 
crossed the channel to Holyhead, and travelled through 
the Island of Anglesea, to her old home Bronwylfa. 
Her old Welsh neighbours nocked around her, en- 
treating her to come back and live among them again. 
She returned to Wavertree with agitated spirits, and 
an exhausted frame. 

In 1831, Mrs. Hemans finally quitted Liverpool for 
Dublin. After spending several weeks among kind 
friends, she passed on to the residence of her second 
brother and his wife, and then visited all the remark- 
able places around Kilkenny. In the spring and 
summer of 1832, when cholera was devastating the 
city, her letters express the solemn composure of her 
soul, her childlike dependence upon the care of God, 
and her unreserved submission to His will. In the 
autumn of 1833, the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes, the 
brother-in-law and sister of Mrs. Hemans, whom she 
had not seen for five years, came to Dublin. Her 
sister saw. with pain the worn and altered looks which 
time, care, and sickness had wrought. In 1834, re- 
ferring to the brightening of heart and soul into the 
perfect day of Christian excellence, she remarks; 
" When the weary struggle with wrong and injustice 
leads to such results, I then feel that the fearful mys- 
tery of life is solved for me." Reading one evening 
in the gardens of the Dublin Society, a chill fog im- 
perceptibly came on, and she was seized with a violent 
fit of shivering. For many weeks she had periodic 
attacks of ague. Aware that her time was short, she 
sedulously employed her genius and talents for the 
glory of God. 



LITERARY WOMEN. 183 

On Sunday the 10th of May, 1835, she was able, for 
the last time, to read to herself the appointed Collect, 
Epistle, and Gospel. During that week a heavy lan- 
guor oppressed her, and sometimes her mind wan- 
dered, but always in sunny scenes. On the evening 
of Saturday the 16th, at nine o'clock, while asleep, 
her happy spirit passed away. Life, and this admir- 
able woman, had not been long together ; she was only 
in her forty-second year. 

Her remains were interred in St. Anne's church, 
Dawson Street, Dublin ; and over her grave were in- 
scribed eight lines from one of her own dirges : — 

" Calm on the bosom of thy God, 

Fair spirit, rest thee now ! 
E'en while with us thy footsteps trod, 

His seal was on thy brow. 
Dust to its narrow house beneath ! 

Soul to its place on high ! 
They that have seen thy look in death, 

No more may fear to die." 

The memorial erected by her nearest relations in the 
cathedral of St. Asaph, is very expressive, and records 
that — 

" This Tablet, 

Placed here by her Brothers, 

is in memory of 

FELICIA HEMANS ; 

Whose Character is best Portrayed 

in her writings. 

She died in Dublin, May 16, 1835. 
Aged 41." 



184 MODEL WOMEK. 

REVIEW OF HER WORKS. 

An eminent living critic has said that Mrs. Hemans' 
poetry is silent to all effective utterance of original 
trath. We do not adopt that sentiment, but we 
believe had her mind been directed in youth to the 
works of Lord Bacon and Bishop Butler, or even the 
elementary propositions of Euclid, it would probably 
have gained both as to intellectual and moral strength. 
Her poetical life divides itself into four periods. The 
juvenile, the classic, the romantic, and the mature. 
Her mind precociously expanded to a keen sense of 
the beautiful, and a warm appreciation of nature and 
poetry. Some pieces found in her works date their 
composition as far back as 1803 and 1804 ; but it was 
not till 1808 that her first volume was ushered into 
the world. In 1812, she gave to the press "The 
Domestic Affections." In 1819, appeared " Tales and 
Historic Scenes." In 1823, a tragedy entitled "The 
Vespers of Palermo." In 1826, she published "The 
Forest Sanctuary." In 1828, " Records of Woman." 
In 1830, she brought out " Songs of the Affections." 
In 1834, appeared her little volume of " Hymns for 
Childhood," "National Lyrics and Songs for Music," 
" Scenes and Hymns of Life," and sonnets, under the 
title of " Thoughts during Sickness." 

These are her principal works. She obtained a 
prize from a patriotic Scotsman for the best poem on 
Sir William Wallace, and a prize was also awarded 
her by the Hoyal Society of Literature for the best 
poem on Dartmoor. Like all authors who have writ- 
ten much, her poetry is of various excellence ; but for 
pathos, sentiment, and gorgeous richness of language, 



LITERARY WOMEN. 185 

we know no lyrics superior to her little pieces. She 
was, as Lord Jeffrey well remarked, an admirable 
writer of occasional verses. Mrs. Hemans never left 
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 
but her imagination visited and realized every place 
of which she read, or heard, or saw a picture. How 
minute, eloquent and exciting, are her descriptions of 
"The Better Land.' ' 

11 ' Is it where the feathery palm-trees rise, 
And the date grows ripe under sunny skies ? 
Or midst the green islands of glittering seas, 
Where fragrant forests perfume the breeze, 
And strange, bright birds on their starry wings 
Bear the rich hues of all glorious things V 
— * Not there, not there, my child !' 

" * Is it far away, in some region old, 
Where the rivers wander o'er sands of gold ? — 
Where the burning rays of the ruby shine, 
And the diamond lights up the secret mine, 
And the pearl gleams forth from the coral strand ? — 
Is it there, sweet mother, that better land V 
— ' Not there, not there, my child !' " 

Mrs. Hemans has the most perfect skill in her 
science ; nothing can be more polished, glowing, and 
harmonious, than her versification. We give an illus- 
tration, " The Voice of Spring." 

" I come ! I come ! — Ye have called me long : 
I come o'er the mountains with light and song ! 
Ye may trace my steps o'er the wakening earth, 
By the winds that tell of the violet's birth, 
By the primrose stars in the shadowy grass, 
By the green leaves opening as I pass." 

There is diffused over all her poetry a yearning 
desire to associate the name of England with every 



186 MODEL WOMEN. 

sentiment and feeling of freedom and patriotism. 
" The Homes of England " shows that she knew 
wherein consisted the glory and strength of kingdoms. 

" The stately homes of England, 

How beautiful they stand 
Amidst their tall ancestral trees, 

O'er all the pleasant land. 
The deer across their greensward hound 

Through shade and sunny gleam 
And the swan glides past them with the sound 

Of some rejoicing stream." 

Her " Graves of a Household " illustrates how well 
the graphic and pathetic may be made to set off each 
other. 

" They grew in beauty, side by side, 
They filled one home with glee ; 
Their graves are severed, far and wide, 
By mount and stream and sea." 

With what exquisite tenderness and beautiful im- 
agery does she express in " The Hour of Death " the 
emotions of every heart. 

" Leaves have their time to fall, 
And flowers to wither at the north wind's breath, 

And stars to set — but all, 
Thou hast all seasons for thine own, Death ! " 

Mrs. Hemans' poetry has four characteristics, viz., 
the ideal, the picturesque, the harmonious, and the 
moral. There may be "too many flowers for the 
fruit ;" yet a large portion of it possesses perennial 
vitality. 

The best edition extant of the works of Mrs, 
Hemans has been published recently by Messrs. 
Blackwood. The poems are chronologically arranged, 



LITERAEY WOMEN. 187 

with illustrative notes and a selection of contempo- 
rary criticisms. Besides an ample table of contents, 
there is a general index, and an index of first lines. 



CHARACTER OF MRS. HEMANS. 

Her personal appearance was highly attractive. 
The writer of her memoir describes her in early 
womanhood as radiant with beauty. The mantling 
bloom of her cheeks was shaded by a profusion of 
natural ringlets of a rich golden brown ; and the 
ever- varying expression of her brilliant eyes gave a 
changeful play to her countenance, which would have 
made it impossible for any painter to do justice to it. 
She was of middle stature and slight of figure. Her 
air was graceful, and her manner fascinating in its 
artlessness. Prom the crown of the head to the sole 
of the foot she was touched with elegance. 

In dramatic conception, depth of thought, and 
variety of fancy, we could name several women who 
excelled her ; but in the use of language, in the 
employment of rich, chaste, and glowing imagery, and 
in the perfect music of her versification, she stands 
alone and superior. In the words of Miss Jewsbury, 
I The genius with which she was gifted, combined 
to inspire a passion for the ethereal, the tender, the 
imaginative, the heroic, — in one word, the beautiful. 
It was in her a faculty Divine, and yet of daily life, 
it touched all things ; but like a sunbeam, touched 
them with a golden finger." 

She was a genuine woman, and therefore imbued 
with a Christian spirit. To borrow again from Miss 
Jewsbury : " Her strength and her weakness alike 



188 MODEL WOMEN. 

lay in her affections : these wonld sometimes make 
her weep at a word, at others imbue her with courage, 
so that she was alternately a falcon-hearted dove, and 
a reed shaken with the wind. Her voice was a sad 
melody ; her spirits reminded me of an old poet's 
description of the orange-tree with its 

'Golden lamps hid in a night of green,' 

or of those Spanish gardens, where the pomegranate 
grows beside the cypress. Her gladness was like a 
burst of sunlight ; and if in her depression she re- 
sembled ni^ht, it was night wearing her stars." 



SECTION VL— ELIZABETH BABBETT 
BBOWNING. 

" It is characteristic of this century, that women play a more 
important part in literature than previously. Not only have 
women of genius commanded universal homage, but the dis- 
tinctive characteristics of the female nature have been exhibited 
with more exquisite analysis and more powerful truth than here- 
tofore." Peter Batne, A.M. 



EPIG POETBY. 

The principal of poetical compositions is the epic, 
otherwise called the heroic. It gives an imaginative 
narrative of some signal action or series of actions 
and events, usually the achievements of some dis- 
tinguished character, and intended to form the morals 
and affect the mind with the love of virtue. The 
longer poems of the epic genus embrace an extensive 



LITEEARY WOMEN. 189 

series of events, and the actions of numerous personages. 
The " Iliad " and the "Odyssey'' are the principal 
Grecian epics. The " .ZEneid " is the most distin- 
guished Roman epic. " Jerusalem Delivered " and 
the " Divina Comedia " are the most celebrated 
Italian epics. " Paradise Lost " is the greatest 
English epic. These are epic poems by way of emi- 
nence, but there are several species of minor poems 
which from their nature most also be ranked as epics. 
One of these is the " idyl," a term applied to what 
is called pastoral poetry. The ballad is another 
species of minor epic. Critics agree that this sort of 
poetry is the greatest work human nature is capable 
of. But attempts at epic poetry are now rare, the 
spirit of the age being against this kind of compo- 
sition. It is believed that several of our immortal 
epics could not have been written in the nineteenth 
century ; because the mind would never produce that 
of the truth of which it could not persuade itself by 
any illusion of the imagination. In the room of epic 
poems, we have now novels, which may be considered 
as the epics of modern civil and domestic life. We 
have, however, minds of both sexes, in our midst, 
capable of furnishing us with epics, so far as genius 
is concerned. 



BIOGRAPHY. 

Elizabeth Barrett was born in London, about the 
year 1809. Her father was an opulent country 
gentleman, and not a West India merchant as several 
biographies represent him to have been. She passed 
her girlhood at his country-seat in Herefordshire, 



190 MODEL WOMEN. 

among the lovely scenery of the Malvern Hills. At 
least she says : — 

" Green is the land where my daily 
Steps in jocund childhood played ; 
Dimpled close with hill and valley ; 

Dappled very close with shade : 
Summer snow of apple blossom 
Eunning up from glade to glade." 

She seems to have been a very precocious child, and 
the culture which she received in her youth was fair, 
liberal, and sound. Classics, philosophy, and science 
were studied with enthusiasm and success. We wel- 
come gladly the evidence that society is beginning to 
recognise woman's right to be as highly educated as 
her capacity will allow. She is to be man's com- 
panion, and what can better enable her to be a fit 
companion for him, than a due comprehension of 
what he comprehends ; an appreciation founded upon 
knowledge of the difficulties he has mastered, and 
power to stand beside him and help him in his intel- 
lectual labours. Without disregarding the fact that 
all women do not follow in the footsteps of men, and 
therefore do not require the same course of learning, 
Elizabeth Barrett participated largely in the educa- 
tion given to her brothers by a very able tutor, Mr. 
Hugh Stuart Boyd, the Grecian. 

From a very early age her ear was ever attuned to 
catch the deep and mysterious and hope-inspiring 
whisperings of nature. At the age of ten she began 
writing in prose and in verse, and at fifteen her talent 
for literary composition became known to her friends. 
She was a most diligent student, and soon became 
a contributor to periodical literature, and a series of 



LITBEAEY WOMEN. 191 

articles on the Greek Christian poets not only indi- 
cated how deeply she had entered into the spirit of 
these old authors, but proved that she was possessed 
both of recondite learning and true poetic genius. 
If, as some critics aver, her earlier style resembles 
that of Tennyson ; this arises, not from imitation, 
but from similarity of genius and classical taste. 
Proofs of rare reading and deep reflection abound in 
Miss Barrett's first attempt at authorship, published 
in 1826 : "An Essay on Mind, and other Poems," 
Her next literary enterprise was a version of one of 
the greatest and most difficult masterpieces of classi- 
cal antiquity ; " Prometheus Bound/ ' which appeared 
in 1833 ; and of which she has since given an im- 
proved translation. In 1838 appeared another volume 
of original poetry, "The Seraphim, and other Poems; " 
the external peculiarity of which was its endeavour 
to embody the ideas and sentiments of a Christian 
mystery in the artistic form of a Greek tragedy. 
This was followed in 1839, by a third work, " The 
Romaunt of the Page." 

Life's joys are as inconstant as life itself. Tem- 
poral disappointments often distress us, and God's 
providential visitations often cause us to change our 
plans. 

" How fast treads sorrow on the heels of joy." 

About this time, a melancholy accident occurred 
which for years clouded the life of the poetess, and all 
but irretrievably shattered her naturally delicate con- 
stitution. She burst a blood-vessel in the lungs. 
Happily, no symptoms of consumption supervened; 
but after a twelvemonth's confinement at home, she 



192 MODEL WOMEN. 

was ordered by her physician to the mild climate of 
Devonshire. A honse was taken for her at Torquay, 
near the foot of the cliffs, close by the sea. She was 
rapidly recovering, when one bright summer morning 
her brother and two young men, his friends, went 
out in a small boat for a trip of a few hours. Just as 
they crossed the bar, the vessel swamped, and all on 
board perished. Even their lifeless bodies were never 
recovered. They were sepulchred in the great ocean, 
which has wrapped its garment of green round many 
of the fairest and noblest of the sons of men, and 
which rolls its continued requiem of subhmity and 
sadness over the millions whom it hath entombed. 
This sudden and dreadful calamity almost killed Miss 
Barrett. During a whole year, she lay in the house 
incapable of removal, whilst the sound of the waves 
rang in her ears as the moans of the dying. Litera- 
ture was her only solace. Her physician pleaded 
with her to abandon her studies ; and to quiet his 
importunities she had an edition of Plato bound so 
as to resemble a novel. 

When eventually removed to London and her 
father's house in Wimpole Street, it was in an invalid 
carriage, and at the slow rate of twenty miles a day. 
In a commodious and darkened room, to which only 
her own family and a few devoted friends were 
admitted, she nursed her remnant of life; reading 
meanwhile the best books in almost every language, 
and giving herself heart and soul to that poetry of 
which she seemed born to be the priestess. The 
following beautiful and graphic verses were written 
to commemorate the faithful companionship of a 
young spaniel ("Flush, my dog"), presented to 



LITERARY WOMEN. 193 

her by a friend, in those years of imprisonment and 
inaction. 

" Yet, my little sportive friend, 
Little is't to such an end 

That I should praise thy rareness ! 
Other dogs may be thy peers, 
Haply in these drooping ears, 
And in this glossy fairness. 

" But of thee it shall be said, 
This dog watched beside a bed 

Day and night unweary ; — 
Watched within a curtained room, 
Where no sunbeam broke the gloom, 

Round the sick and weary. 

" Roses, gathered for a vase, 
In that chamber died apace, 

Beam and breeze resigning — 
This dog only waited on, 
Knowing that when light is gone, 

Love remains for shining. 

u Other dogs in thymy dew 
Tracked the hares, and followed through 

Sunny moor or meadow — 
This dog only crept and crept 
Next a languid cheek that slept, 

Sharing in the shadow. 

" Other dogs of loyal cheer 
Bounded at the whistle clear, 

Up the woodside hieing — 
This dog only watched in reach 
Of a faintly uttered speech, 

Or a louder sighing. 

" And if one or two quick tears 
Dropt upon his glossy ears,' 
Or a sigh came double, — 



194 MODEL WOMEN. 

Up he sprang in eager haste, 
Fawning, fondling, breathing fast, 
In a tender trouble. 

" And this dog was satisfied 
If a pale thin hand would glide 
Down his dewlaps sloping — 
Which he pushed his nose within, 
After — platforming his chin 
On the palm left open." 

It was during those six or seven years of seclusion 
and study that she composed or completed the most 
striking of those poems, published in two volumes in 
1844, which first brought her into notice as a poetess 
of genius. "Poetry," said the authoress in her pre- 
face, " has been as serious a thing to me as life itself, 
and life has been a very serious thing. I never mis- 
took pleasure for the final cause of poetry, nor leisure 
for the hour of the poet. I have done my work, so 
far, as work, not as mere hand and head work apart 
from the personal being, but as the completest ex- 
pression of that being to which I could attain ; and as 
work I offer it to the public, feeling its shortcomings 
more deeply than any of my readers, because measured 
from the height of my aspiration, but feeling also that 
the reverence and sincerity with which the work 
was done should give it some protection with the 
reverent and sincere." 

In 1846, she became the wife of a kindred spirit, 
Robert Browning, the poet. Never were man and 
woman more clearly ordained for each other than 
Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett. They were 
imperfect apart; together they were rounded into 
one. With marriage came Mrs. Browning's welcome 



LITERARY WOMEN. 195 

restoration to health and strength. The poet-pair 
started for Italy, staying first at Pisa, and then settling 
at Florence. In that metropolis of one of the most 
wealthy and powerful of the Italian States, she wit- 
nessed, in 1848-49, the struggle made by the Tuscans 
for freedom. Mrs. Browning published her collected 
works in 1850. In 1851, she issued her important 
work," Casa Guidi Windows," a semi- political narra- 
tive of actual events and genuine feelings. 

Inspirited by what she saw around her, and by a 
new tie, an only child, a boy of great intellectual and 
musical precocity, the genius of Mrs. Browning had 
become practical and energetic. "The future of 
Italy," says our authoress, " shall not be disinherited." 
Then came, in 1856, "Aurora Leigh," a long and elabo- 
rate poem or novel in blank verse, which our poetess 
considered the most mature of her works, into which 
her highest convictions upon life and art were entered. 
"Poems before Congress " followed in 1860. 

After a brief illness, Mrs. Browning died at Flo- 
rence on the 29th of June, 1861. When the sad news 
reached England, universal regret was expressed for 
the loss of the talented lady ; the press confessing 
with singular unanimity that the world had lost in 
her the greatest poetess that had ever appeared. 

She was borne to the tomb amidst the lamentations 
of Tuscany no less than of her own dear England. 
Above the door of a decent little house in Florence is 
a small square slab, with an inscription in Italian, 
which may be thus translated : — " Here wrote and 
died Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who to the heart of 
a woman joined the science of a scholar and the spirit 
of a teacher, and who made with her golden verse a 

o 2 



196 MODEL WOMEN. 

nuptial ring between Italy and England. Grateful 
Florence places this memorial." 



PLAGE AS A POETESS. 

In no languages, save Greek and English, so far as 
we remember at present, have poetesses achieved 
special fame ; and we think all competent judges will 
unhesitatingly rank Mrs. Browning as the Queen of 
song. But we do not wish to judge her by a less 
elevated standard or less rigid rules than those we 
apply to the poets generally. " Good for a woman," 
is the sort of praise she would have rejected with 
scorn. She entered fairly into the lists against all 
the world, and she claims a place among literary 
worthies as such. Genius is of no sex. What place 
shall we assign her ? 

It is not necessary for the purposes of criticism that 
a scale of genius should be formed, that a list of the 
orbs of song should be made out. Shakespeare is the 
greatest author of mankind ; for generations he has 
been hailed as the mightiest of mere men. Mrs. 
Browning is not Shakespeare; but we do not talk 
amusingly when we ' claim her as his counterpart. 
Milton was endowed with gifts of the soul which 
have been imparted to few of our race. His name is 
almost identified with sublimity. He is in fact the 
sublimest of men. In fitness of conception, terseness 
of diction, and loftiness of thought, the following 
lines have all that Miltonic genius could impart : — 

" Kaise the majesties 
Of thy disconsolate brows, well-beloved, 
And front with level eyelids the To Come, 



LITEEAEY WOMEN. 197 

And all the dark o' the world. Rise, woman, rise 

To thy peculiar and best attitudes 

Of doing good and of enduring ill, — 

Of comforting for ill, and teaching good, 

And reconciling all that ill and good 

Unto the patience of a constant hope, — 

Kise with thy daughters ! If sin came by thee, 

And by sin, death,— the ransom righteousness, 

The heavenly light, and compensative rest, 

Shall come by means of thee. If woe by thee 

Had issue to the world, thou shalt go forth 

An angel of the woe thou didst achieve, 

Found acceptable to the world, instead 

Of others of that name, of whose bright steps 

Thy deed stripped bare the hills. Be satisfied ; 

Something thou hast to bear through womanhood, 

Peculiar suffering, answering to the sin ; — 

Some pang paid down for each new human life, 

Some weariness in guarding such a life, 

Some coldness from the guarded ; some mistrust 

From those thou hast too well served ; from those beloved 

Too loyally, some treason ; feebleness 

Within thy heart, and cruelty without, 

And pressures of an alien tyranny 

With its dynastic reasons of larger bones 

And stronger sinews. But, go to ! thy love 

Shall chant itself its own beatitudes, 

After its own life working. A child's kiss 

Set on thy sighing lips shall make thee glad ; 

A poor man served by thee shall make thee rich ; 

A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong. 

Thou shalt be served thyself by every sense 

Of service which thou renderest." 

In seeking to ascertain the precise position which 
Mrs. Browning occupies in relation to other writers, 
critics of general common sense will select a class of 
favourites who have exerted a mighty sway over the 



198 MODEL WOMEN. 

strongly pulsing heart of common humanity. Some 
will place in this list Burns, Moore, and Scott. With 
others, Byron, Wordsworth, and Tennyson will figure 
as chiefs. Now, in this selection, we venture to 
affirm Mrs. Browning has been often enrolled by men 
as well as by women ; by some high upon the list, by 
others, of course, upon a lower level. There are not 
many good sonnets in English literature, but in this 
most difficult and elaborate form of composition Mrs. 
Browning was eminently successful. We could select 
half a dozen excellent sonnets from Mrs. Browning 
with more ease than from Shakespeare, or Milton, or 
any other writer save Wordsworth. 

Of her mere literary style we care to say but little, 
and still less of her faults. She was essentially a 
self-taught and self- sustained artist. Her corre- 
spondence with Mr. John Kenyon, the poet, did not 
commence till she was thirty years of age, and con- 
sequently she owed less to his influences than some 
of her critics suppose. Her style is strong and clear, 
but uneven and abrupt. A sentence or paragraph 
often limps a little after the hastening thought, and a 
degree of stiffness is sometimes given by a pet word, 
coined, or obsolete, or picked up in an old book. It 
would be absurd to deny that certain characteristics 
of her poetry withhold it from the many and confine 
it to the few. The true and eternally grateful notes 
are struck without show of art or self-conscious am- 
bition. Still, following the rule that she ought to be 
judged by her best, it must be admitted that she is the 
rose, the consummate crown, the rarer and stronger 
and more passionate Sappho of our time. 



LITSEARY WOMEN. 199 

CHARACTER OF MRS. BROWNING. 

It must have been about 1835 that Miss Mitford 
first saw Miss Barrett, and to this period the following 
portrait in the " Recollections of a Literary Life " 
doubtless referred: — "My first acquaintance with 
Elizabeth Barrett commenced about fifteen years ago. 
She was certainly one of the most interesting persons 
I had ever seen. Everybody who then saw her said 
the same ; so it is not merely the impression of my 
partiality or my enthusiasm. Of a slight, delicate 
figure, with a shower of dark curls falling on either 
side of a most expressive face, large tender eyes 
richly fringed by dark eyelashes, a smile like a sun- 
beam, and such a look of youthfulness, that I had 
some difficulty in persuading a friend, in whose car- 
riage we went together to Chiswick, that the transla- 
tress of the " Prometheus " of iEschylus, the authoress 
of the "Essay on Mind/' was old enough to be intro- 
duced into company; in technical language — was out." 
But although not strikingly fair to look upon, her 
nature was so gentle, and her manners so interesting, 
that they stood her in the stead of health and beauty. 

Mrs. Browning was endowed with the highest 
imaginative and intellectual qualities. In her poems 
are passages which admit of being compared with 
those of the few sovereigns of literature ; touches 
which only the mightiest give. We admire and 
reverence the breadth and versatility of her genius ; 
no sameness ; no one idea ; no type character ; a 
woman of great acuteness and originality — one of 
the prime spirits of this century. 

Our poetess laid her splendid powers on the altar 



200 MODEL WOMEN. 

of God. Deep chastened affection, and nobleness of 
faith glow and sparkle in her life as well as in her 
verse, with a rare brilliancy. " She is a Christian," 
to quote the words of a popular writer, " not in the 
sense of appreciating, like Carlyle, the loftiness of 
the Christian type of character ; not in the sense 
of adopting, like Goethe, a Christian machinery for 
artistic self- worship ; nor even in the sense of ap- 
proaching, like Wordsworth, an angnst but abstract 
morality; but in the sense of finding, like Cowper, 
the whole hope of humanity bound up in Christ, and 
taking all the children of her mind to Him, that He 
may lay His hand on them and bless them. It is 
well that Mrs. Browning is a Christian. It is dim- 
cult, but possible, to bear the reflection that many 
great female writers have rejected that gospel which 
has done more for woman than any other civilizing 
agency ; but it is well that the greatest woman of all 
looks up in faith and love to that eye which fell on 
Mary from the cross." 



SECTION VIL— CHARLOTTE NICHOLLS. 
[CURRER BELL.] 

" I turn from the critical unsympathetic, public, — inclined to 
iudge harshly because they have only seen superficially and not 
thought deeply. I appeal to that larger and more solemn 
public, who know how to look with tender humility at faults and 
errors ; how to admire generously extraordinary genius, and how 
to reverence with warm, full hearts, all noble virtue." 

E. C. Gaskell. 



WORKS OF FICTION 
There are few things more worthy of notice than 



L1TERAEY WOMEN. 201 

those strange mutations of opinion, and returning 
circuits of belief, to which the human mind is sub- 
ject. The same tastes and habits, the same fashions 
and follies, the same delusions and the same doubts, 
seem to have their periodical cycles of recurrence. 
Theories which have been solemnly buried, suddenly 
rear their unexpected heads, and are received with 
all the more favour because of the contempt and 
derision which followed them to the grave. How 
many things are taken for granted which want think- 
ing about ! The wholesale condemnation of works 
of fiction is consummate absurdity. When all are 
condemned, people are apt to suppose that any may 
be read with impunity. Some novelists have sought 
for their heroes and heroines among thieves and 
desperadoes ; flagitiously indifferent alike to fact and 
morality, they have laboured with pernicious success 
to invest these wretched characters with a halo of 
romantic interest and dignity : but if on this account 
we give up the principle, then we must give up 
poetry, fable, allegory-, and all kinds of imaginative 
literature. The society of our highest intellects 
must be renounced. Fictitious literature has been 
condemned on the ground that those novels which 
are taken up with a description of the world in its 
most vain and frivolous aspects, are the most popular. 
This is not true. The works of our modern fictionists 
are exceedingly popular ; and no one acquainted with 
them will dare to say they are open to such a charge. 
Not a few object to works of fiction because they 
make them discontented with real life. It is true the 
Bible teaches us that it is wrong to murmur at the 
allotments of Providence ; and the Episcopal Church 



202 MODEL WOMEN. 

beautifully prays every day, " Give us always minds 
contented with our present condition." But it is 
equally true that the Scriptures teach us to aim at 
a higher standard than we have yet attained, and 
clergymen inculcate the necessity for progress. We 
ought to be dissatisfied with ourselves, and with many 
things that we see in others. . Let us seek to rise to 
the lofty ideal presented in good novels, and if we 
do not find that our ascending steps lead us into a 
purer atmosphere, and into regions where grow 
perennial fruit — then complain. 

BIOGRAPHY. 

Charlotte Bronte was born at Thornton, in the 
parish of Bradford, on the 21st of April, 1816. Her 
father, the Rev. Patrick Bronte, was a native of the 
County Down, in Ireland; and her mother, Maria, 
was the third daughter of Mr. Thomas Branwell, 
Penzance, Cornwall. In 1820, Mr. Bronte removed 
to Haworth, a chapelry in the West Hiding, and Mrs. 
Bronte died the following year. Charlotte in after- 
years could but dimly recall the remembrance of her 
mother. The servants were impressed with the clever- 
ness of the little Brontes, and often said they had never 
seen such a clever child as Charlotte. Mr. Bronte's 
account of his children is exceedingly interesting : — 

" As soon as they could read and write, Charlotte 
and her brother and sisters used to invent and act 
little plays of their own, in which the Duke of 
Wellington, my daughter Charlotte's hero, was sure 
to come off conqueror ; when a dispute would not 
unfrequently arise amongst them regarding the 



LITERARY WOMEN. 203 

comparative merits of him, Buonaparte, Hannibal, 

and Caesar. When the argument got warm, and rose 

to its height, as their mother was then dead, I had 

sometimes to come in as arbitrator, and settle the 

dispute according to the best of my judgment. 

Generally, in the management of these concerns, I 

frequently thought that I discovered signs of rising 

talent, which I had seldom or never before seen in 

any of their age. ... A circumstance now 

occurs to my mind which I may as well mention. 

, When my children were very young, when, as far 

as I can remember, the oldest was about ten years 

of age, and the youngest about four, thinking that 

they knew more than I had yet discovered, in order 

to make them speak with less timidity, I deemed that 

r if they were put under a sort of cover I might gain 

! my end ; and happening to have a mask in the house, 

I told them all to stand and speak boldly from under 

cover of the mask. I began with the youngest 

(Anne, afterwards Acton Bell), and asked what a 

child like her most wanted ; she answered, ' Age and 

experience.' I asked the next (Emily, afterwards 

, Ellis Bell), what I had best do with her brother 

i Branwell, who was sometimes a naughty boy ; she 

1 answered, ' Reason with him, and when he won't 

j listen to reason, whip him.' I asked Branwell what 

i, was the best way of knowing the difference between 

j the intellects of man and woman ; he answered, ' By 

! considering the difference between them as to their 

> bodies.' I then asked Charlotte what was the best 

book in the world ; she answered, ' The Bible.' 

What was the next best ; she answered, ' The Book 

of Nature.' I then asked the next what was the 



204 MODEL WOMEN. 

best mode of education for a woman ; she answered, 
6 By laying it out in preparation for a happy eternity.' 
I may not have given precisely their words, but I 
have nearly done so, as they made a deep and lasting 
impression on my memory. " 

Soon after Mrs. Bronte's death, an elder sister 
came from Penzance to superintend her brother-in- 
law's household, and look after his six children. 
Miss Branwell taught her nieces sewing and the 
household arts, in which Charlotte became an adept. 
In 1823, a school was established for the daughters 
of clergymen, at a place called Cowan Bridge. Mr. 
Bronte took Maria and Elizabeth to Cowan Bridge, 
in July, 1824; and in September, he brought 
Charlotte and Emily to be admitted as pupils. Maria 
was untidy, but gentle, and intellectual. Elizabeth 
won much upon the esteem of the superintendent of 
the school by her exemplary patience. Emily was 
distinguished for fortitude. Charlotte was a "bright, 
clever, little child." Maria died in May, and 
Elizabeth in June, 1825. Charlotte was thus early 
called upon to bear the responsibilities of an elder 
sister in a motherless family ; both Charlotte and 
Emily returned to the school at the close of the 
midsummer holidays in this fatal year. But before 
the next winter they left that establishment. 

In 1831, she was sent to Miss Wooler's school at 
Roe Head, where her remarkable talents were duly 
appreciated by her kind instructress, and friendships 
were formed with some of her fellow-pupils that 
lasted throughout life. One of these early friends 
thus graphically describes the impression she made 
upon her. 



LITEEARY WOMEN. 205 

" I first saw her coming out of a covered cart, in 
very old-fashioned clothes, and looking very cold 
and miserable. She was coming to school at Miss 
Wooler's. When she appeared in the schoolroom, 
her dress was changed, but just as old. She 
looked a little old woman, so short-sighted that she 
always appeared to be seeking something, and mov- 
ing her head from side to side to catch a sight of it. 
She was very shy and nervous, and spoke with a 
strong Irish accent. When a book was given her, 
she dropped her head over it till her nose nearly 
touched it ; and when she was told to hold her head 
up, up went the book after it, still closer to her nose r 
so that it was not possible to help laughing." 

Towards the end of the year and half that she re- 
mained as a pupil at Roe Head, she received her first 
bad mark for an imperfect lesson. Charlotte wept 
bitterly, and her school-fellows were indignant. Miss 
Wooler withdrew the bad mark. 

In 1835, she returned to Miss Wooler's school as a 
teacher, and Emily accompanied her as a scholar. 
Charlotte's life here was very happy. The girls were 
hardly strangers to her, some of them being younger 
sisters of those who had been her own playmates ; 
and however trying the duties were she had to per- 
form, there was always a thoughtful friend watching 
over her in the person of good Miss Wooler. But 
her life was too sedentary, and she was advised to re- 
turn to the parsonage. She did so, and the change 
at once proved beneficial. 

At Haworth she met the person who made the 
first proposal of marriage to her. Miss Bronte re- 
spected the young man very deeply, but as she did 



206 MODEL WOMEN. 

not really love him, she refused to marry him. Soon 
after, an Irish clergyman, fresh from Dublin Univer- 
sity, whom she had only met once, sent her a letter, 
which proved to be a declaration of love and a pro- 
posal of matrimony. But although she had no hope 
of another offer, the witty, lively, and ardent Irishman 
was summarily rejected. Restored to health and 
strength, instead of remaining at Haworth to be a 
burden to her father, and to live on there in idleness 
perhaps for years, she determined, if everthing else 
failed, to turn housemaid. Soon after, she became 
engaged as a governess in a family where she was 
destined to find an ungenial residence. The children 
all loved her, more or less, according to their different 
characters. But the mother was proud and pompous, 
and Miss Bronte as proud, though not so pompous, 
as she. In 1839, she left the family of the wealthy 
Yorkshire manufacturer; and in 1841, found her 
second and last situation as a governess. This time 
she became a member of a kind-hearted and friendly 
household. But her salary, after deducting the ex- 
pense of washing, amounted to only £16 ; moreover, 
the career of a governess was to Miss Bronte a per- 
petual attempt to force her faculties into a direction 
for which her previous life had unfitted them. So at 
Christmas she left this situation. 

Several attempts to open a school at the parsonage 
having proved futile, with the view of better quali- 
fying themselves for the task of teaching, Miss 
Bronte and her sister Emily went to Brussels in 
1842, and took up their abode in Madame Heger's 
pensionnat. Towards the close of the year, word 
came from England that her aunt, Miss Branwell, 



LITERARY WOMEN. 207 

was very ill. Before they got home, the funeral was 
over, and Mr. Bronte and Anne were sitting together 
in quiet grief for one who had done her part well 
in the household for nearly twenty years. About the 
end of January, 1843, Miss Bronte returned to 
Brussels alone for other six months. 

In returning to England, in 1844, Miss Bronte 
determined to commence a school, and to facilitate 
her success in this plan, M. Heger, gave her a kind 
of diploma, sealed with the Athenee Royal, of which 
he was a professor. But no pupils made their ap- 
pearance, and consequently the sisters abandoned the 
idea of school-keeping, and turned their thoughts 
to literature. Their volume of poems was published 
in 1846 ; their names being veiled under those of 
Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, but it met with little 
or no attention. It is possible that the names of 
Emily and Anne may not survive the present genera- 
tion ; but certainly Charlotte's writings have placed 
her in the highest rank of lady novelists. 

The winter of 1848 was a dark one at Haworth. 
Her only brother, and the sister she so intensely 
loved, and whose genius she ever delighted to exalt 
above her own, died within a few weeks of each 
other. Miss Bronte was prostrate with fever; and 
Anne, always delicate, grew rapidly worse. The two 
went together to Scarborough the following spring. 
There the younger sister died, and the elder was left 
alone with her aged father in that dreary deserted 
home among the graves. In June, 1850, she visited 
London, saw her old hero the Duke of Wellington, 
at the Chapel Boyal, had an interview with Lewes, 
and dined with Thackeray. The same summer she 



208 MODEL WOMEN. 

went on to Edinburgh to join the friends with whom 
she had been staying in town. In a letter to a cor- 
respondent, she says : " Do not think that I blaspheme, 
when I tell you that your great London, as compared 
to Dunedin, ' mine own romantic town,' is as prose 
compared to poetry ; or as a great rumbling, rambling, 
heavy epic compared to a lyric, brief, bright, clear, 
and vital as a flash of lightning. You have nothing 
like Scott's monument ; or, if you had that, and all 
the glories of architecture assembled together, you 
have nothing like Arthur's seat, and above all, you 
have not the Scottish national character ; and it is 
that grand character after all which gives the land 
its true charm, its true greatness." 

The three following years pass over. One of the 
deepest interests of her life centres round the 29th 
of June, 1854. On that day many old and humble 
friends saw her come out of Haworth church, leaning 
on the arm of " one of the best gentlemen in the 
county," and looking " like a snowdrop." We almost 
smile as we think of the merciless derider of weak 
and insipid suitors finding a lord and a master — of 
the hand which drew the three solemn ecclesiastics, 
Malone, Donne, and Sweeting, locked at the altar in 
that of her father's curate, and learning from ex- 
perience, — 

" That marriage, rightly understood, 
Gives to the tender and the good 
A paradise below." 

Mr. Nicholls loved Miss Bronte as his own soul, and 
she loved him, and every day her love grew stronger. 
In the last letter she ever wrote, we find the following 
sentence: " No kinder, better husband than mine, 



LITERAEY WOMEN. 209 

it seems to me, there can be in the world.' ' Home 
joys are only dependent, in a small degree, on ex- 
ternal circumstances. 

Nine months followed of calm happiness — months 
of respite and rest. During the next winter she was 
confined to a sick bed, from which she never rose. 
The doctor assured her that all would soon be 
right. Martha tenderly waited on her mistress, and 
from time to time had tried to cheer her with the 
thoughts of the baby that was coming. But she 
died on the 31st March, 1855, in the thirty- ninth 
year of her age, after a long and weary illness, 
bravely as she had lived, and left her widowed hus- 
band and childless father sitting desolate and alone 
in the old grey parsonage. 

One member out of most of the families of the 
parish was bidden to the funeral, and those who were 
excluded from the formal train of mourners thronged 
the church and churchyard. Two mourners deserve 
special notice. The one was a village girl that had 
been betrayed, seduced, and cast away. In Mrs. 
Nicholls she had found a holy sister, who ministered 
to her needs in her time of trial. Bitter was the 
grief of this young woman, and sincere her mourn- 
ing. The other was a blind girl living some four 
miles from Haworth, who loved the deceased so 
dearly that she implored those about her to lead her 
along the roads, and over the moors, that she might 
listen to the solemn words, " Earth to earth, ashes to 
ashes, dust to dust ; in sure and certain hope of 
the resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord 
Jesus Christ.' ' 



210 MODEL WOMEN. 

MERITS AS A NOVELIST. 

In the real distinguished from the ideal school 
of fiction, Mrs. Mcholls, known to the literary world 
as Cnrrer Bell, attained immediate and lasting popu- 
larity. We purpose to notice a few of her leading 
characteristics, and to define briefly but articulately, 
the worth of her teaching. An eminent and genial 
critic justly remarks : " Currer Bell professed to be 
no idle entertainer. She did not, indeed, tag on 
a moral to the end of her book — else it had been 
little worth ; or even blazon it on its surface. But 
she professed to write truly, to show living men and 
women meeting the exigencies, grappling with the 
problems, of real existence ; to point out how the 
battle goes, in the circles of English middle life, 
between pretension and reality, between falsehood 
and truth. If we were content to listen to her as a 
historian, she relinquished with a smile the laurel of 
the romancer." Her plots possess the merit of rare 
interest ; her characters, however eccentric, stand 
out as unmistakable realities. True, the plot in the 
" Professor," her first prose work, which met with 
so many refusals, and was not published till after 
her death ; is of no great interest. Although she 
has never surpassed two or three portraits there 
sketched, it will not bear comparison with her other 
works. 

The style of Currer Bell is one which will reward 
study for its own sake. Its tone may be somewhat | 
too uniform, its balance and cadence too unvaried. | 
Perhaps, also, there is too much of the abruptness of 
passion. It is certainly inferior to many styles, so 
far as the crimson and gold of literature are con- 



LITERAEY WOMEN. 211 

cerned. But there is no writer with whom we are 
acquainted, more deserving of praise for clearness, 
pointedness, and force. Would that any word of 
ours could recall the numerous admirers of morbid 
magnificence and barbarous dissonance, affected jar- 
gon and fantastic verbiage, laboured antithesis and 
false brilliance, and induce them to read night and 
day the novels of Currer Bell, for the sake of their 
style. In "Jane Eyre," her most powerful work, 
published in October, 1847 ; it must be admitted 
that female delicacy is somewhat outraged ; but its 
specimens of picturesque, resolute, straightforward 
writing, enable this tale to take a high place in the 
field of romantic literature. 

Currer Bell's love of nature was remarkable. A 
Yorkshire moor is for the most part wild and gro- 
tesque, but her eye brims with a " purple light," 
intense enough to perpetuate ^the brief flower-flush 
of August on the heather, or the rare sunset smile 
of June. We might quote in illustration of these 
remarks, pictures of nature, so detailed, definite, and 
fresh, that they give us an assurance as of eyesight. 
Take the following bit of woodland painting from 
\ " Shirley," published in October, 1849 : " I know all 
the pleasantest spots : I know where we could get 
nuts in nutting time; I know where wild strawberries 
abound ; I know certain lonely, quite untrodden 
, glades, carpeted with strange mosses, some yellow as 
, if gilded, some sober grey, some gem green. I know 
groups of trees that ravish the eye with their perfect 
picture-like effects : rude oak, delicate birch, glossy 
beech, clustered in contrast; and ash trees stately 
as Saul, standing isolated, and superannuated wood 

p2 



212 MODEL WOMEN. 

giants clad in bright shrouds of ivy." Many similar, 
and even superior passages might be cited from this 
brilliant novel. 

Works of fiction belong to the province of imagina- 
tion ; and this faculty was largely developed in Currer 
Bell, and has spread the unmistakable splendour of 
its embellishment over her pages. There are passages 
in her works, not only distinct from their general tex- 
ture, but from anything we know in English litera- 
ture. The personification of nature in " Shirley " is 
perhaps the finest. " I saw — I now see — a woman 
Titan; her robe of blue air spreads to the outskirts 
of the heath, where yonder flock is grazing, a veil, 
white as an avalanche, sweeps from her head to 
her feet, and arabesques of lightning flame on its 
borders. Under her breast I see her zone, purple like 
the horizon ; through its blush shines the star of 
evening. The steady eyes I cannot picture. They 
are clear, they are deep as lakes, they are lifted and 
full of worship, they tremble with the softness of 
love and the lustre of prayer. Her forehead has the 
expanse of a cloud, and is paler than the early moon, 
risen long before dark gathers ; she reclines her 
bosom on the ridge of Stillbro , Moor, her mighty 
hands are joined beneath it, so kneeling, face to 
face she speaks with God." Apostrophic bursts are 
common enough in all our more imaginative prose 
writers ; bat the chiselling of the entire figure from 
the nameless marble, and the leaving it for ever 
in the loveliness of its beauty, is peculiar to the prose j 
of Currer Bell. 

In the delineation of one absorbing and tyran- 
nizing passion, Currer Bell, is altogether sui generis. 



LITERARY WOMEN. 213 

With a bold and steady hand she depicts passion in 
all its stages; we may weep and tremble, but her 
nerves do not quiver, neither do her eyes film. " Vil- 
lette," commenced in the autumn of 1850, and brought 
to a conclusion in November, 1851, is a tale of the 
affections. A burning heart glows throughout its 
pages, and so true to nature is the delineation, that it 
is impossible to doubt that living hearts have actually 
throbbed with like passion. The eloquence and gra- 
phic description which mark the closing scenes of 
this tale, the authoress has not equalled elsewhere. 

There is much that is stirring and healthful in 
the works of Currer Bell. The idea of Johnson was 
that marriages might well enough be arranged by 
the chancellor ! But although the Christian world 
very generally seems to be of the same opinion, she 
taught the sacredness of the natural affections in the 
formation of the marriage relationship — the absolute 
necessity of love. Poltroonery, pretentious feebleness, 
and cowardly falsehood, are crowned with the diadem 
of scorn ; and all the stalwart virtues are signally 
honoured. 

CHARACTER OF MRS. NICHOLLS. 

The following personal description is from her 
Life by Mrs. Gaskell. "In 1831, she was a quiet, 
thoughtful girl, of nearly fifteen years of age, very 
small in figure — ' stunted ' was the word she applied 
to herself; but as her limbs and head were in just 
proportion to the slight, fragile body, no word in 
ever so slight a degree suggestive of deformity could 
properly be applied to her ; with soft, thick, brown 



214 MODEL WOMEN. 

Lair, and peculiar eyes, of which I find it difficult to 
give a description as they appeared to me in later 
life. They were large and well shaped ; their colour 
a reddish brown ; but if the iris were closely examined, 
it appeared to be composed of a great variety of 
tints. The usual expression was of quiet, listening 
intelligence ; but now and then, on some just occasion 
for vivid interest or wholesome indignation, a light 
would shine out, as if some spiritual lamp had been 
kindled, which glowed behind those expressive orbs. 
I never saw the like in any other human creature. 
As for the rest of her features, they were plain, large, 
and ill set ; but, unless you began to catalogue them, 
you were hardly aware of the fact ; for the eyes and 
power of the countenance overbalanced every physical 
defect ; the crooked mouth and the large nose were 
forgotten, and the whole face arrested the attention 
and presently attracted all those whom she herself 
would have cared to attract. Her hands and feet 
were the smallest I ever saw ; when one of the former 
was placed in mine, it was like the soft touch of a 
bird in the middle of my palm. The delicate long 
fingers had a peculiar fineness of sensation, which 
was one reason why all her handiwork, of whatever 
kind — writing, sewing, knitting — was so clear in its 
minuteness. She was remarkably neat in her whole 
personal attire ; but she was dainty as to the fit of her 
shoes and gloves." 

There are different classes of great minds. Some 
are great in collecting, others in creating. The 
former is talent, the latter is genius. Some have the 
power of absorbing what they see and hear in the 
external world : they " gather honey all the day from 



LITERARY WOMEN. 215 

every opening flower ; " but they add no new thoughts. 
Others are characterized by originality of thought; 
they investigate new subjects, form new worlds, and 
spin new creations out of their own minds. Currer 
Bell belonged to this class. Some are capable of 
receiving much knowledge, but are unable to turn it 
to any purpose; they have read the standard authors, 
and have plenty of facts, but they know not how to 
use them. Currer Bell could form a system, she 
knew how to write a book. 

Through the whole of her life she had a sacred 
regard for the rules of morality. One of her school- 
fellows informs us that she could get on with those who 
had bumps at the top of their heads. An intelligent 
old man living at Ha worth, said to her biographer : — 
" Charlotte would sit and inquire about our circum- 
stances so kindly and feelingly! . . . Though I 
am a poor working man (which I never felt to be 
acy degradation), I could talk with her with the 
utmost freedom. I always felt quite at home with 
her. Though I never had any school education, I 
never felt the want of it in her company." 



CHAPTER VI. 



SECTION L— CAROLINE LUCBETIA 
HEBSCHEL. 

" Prior to her demise, hope had long become certainty, and 
prophecy passed into truth ; and assemblies of the learned, 
through means of just though unusual tributes to herself, had 
recognised the immortality of the name she bore!" 

J. P. Nichol, LL.D. 



ASTRONOMY. 

In most other sciences, the mind is so often lost in 
details, that it is difficult to stand where you may 
gaze freely out upon the unknown. In astronomy, 
however, you are brought almost at once to stand 
face to face with the Infinite. A wonderful study are 
these old heavens. They have excited the curiosity, 
and called forth the discoveries of both male and 
female students. What an immensity of sublime 
magnificence God has crowded into a few yards 
of sky. There is truth in the well-known lines : — 

" When science from creation's face 
Enchantment's veil withdraws, 
What lovely visions yield their place 
To cold material laws." 

But if science has torn from the heavens the 



SCIENTIFIC WOMEN. 217 

lustre of fiction, it has supplied the clear light of 
fact. From points, the stars have magnified into 
worlds, and from thousands they have multiplied into 
millions. 

" Come forth, man, yon azure round survey, 
And view those lamps that yield eternal day ; 
Bring forth your glasses ; clear thy wondering eyes, 
Millions beyond the former millions rise ; 
Look farther — millions more blaze from remoter skies." 

Sir William Herschel assuming that the instrument 
which he used could enable him to penetrate 497 
times farther than Sirius, reckoned 116,000 stars to 
pass in a quarter of an hour, over the field of view, 
which subtended an angle of only 15'. If from such 
a narrow zone we compute, the whole celestial vault 
must display, within the range of telescopic vision, 
the stupendous number of more than five billions of 
stars. If each of these be the sun to a system similar 
to ours, and if the same number of planets revolve 
round it, then the whole planets in the universe will 
be more than fifty-five billions, not reckoning the 
satellites, which may be even more numerous. That 
part of the science which gives a description of the 
motions, figures, periods of revolution, and other 
phenomena of the celestial bodies, is called descriptive 
astronomy ; that part which determines the motions, 
figures, periodical revolutions, distances, etc., of these 
orbs, is called practical astronomy; and that part 
which explains the causes of their motions, and de- 
monstrates the laws by which those causes operate, 
is termed physical astronomy. 



218 MODEL WOMEN. 



BIOGRAPHY. 



On the 16th of March, 1750, Caroline Lucretia 
Herschel was born. Her birthplace was Hanover. 
She was the fourth daughter of Isaac Herschel, and 
Ann Use Moritzen, his wife. Her parents had also 
six sons. The childhood of this distinguished woman 
is to us a blank. Till her twenty- second year, she 
lived in her native place ; and her father and mother 
seem to have been anxious about her education, but 
their means were limited; and moreover, Hanover, 
during the latter end of the last century, did not 
possess the facilities for the acquirement of literature, 
science, and art, that it does now. Since 1837, when 
it became a royal residence, many changes have taken 
place, and numerous improvements continue to be 
made. We may therefore consistently affirm, that 
among the female examples of the pursuit of know- 
ledge under difficulties, few deserve a higher place 
than Miss Herschel. 

In 1772, she came to England to live with her 
brother William, who had been appointed organist to 
the Octagon chapel, at Bath. When he changed his 
profession for astronomical labours, she became his 
helpmate. " Prom the first commencement of his 
astronomical pursuits," says an authority, who writes 
from intimate knowledge, " her attendance on both 
his daily labours and nightly watches was put in re- 
quisition, and was found so useful, that on his removal 
to Datchet, and subsequently to Slough, she per- 
formed the whole of the arduous and important duties 
of his astronomical assistant — not only reading the 
clock and noting down all the observations from die- 



SCIENTIFIC WOMEN. 219 

tation as an amanuensis, but subsequently executing 
the whole of the extensive and laborious numerical 
calculations necessary to render them available for 
the purposes of science, as well as a multitude of 
others relative to the various objects of theoretical 
and experimental inquiry in which, during a long 
and active career, he was at any time engaged." For 
these important services, His Majesty King George 
III. was graciously pleased to place her in receipt 
of a salary sufficient for her singularly moderate 
wants and retired habits. 

Her brother was knighted by George III., and 
made a D.O.L. by the University of Oxford. During 
the whole of his distinguished career, Miss Herschel 
remained by his side, aiding him and modestly 
sharing the reflection of his fame. 

After Sir William's death in 1822, Miss Herschel 
returned to Hanover, which she never afterwards left; 
passing the last twenty-six years of her life in repose? 
enjoying the society and cherished by the regard of 
her remaining relatives and friends, and gratified by 
the occasional visits of eminent astronomers. The 
Astronomical Society of London, very much to its 
honour, voted her a gold medal for her reduction 
of the nebulae discovered by her renowned brother. 
She was afterwards chosen an honorary member of 
that Society, and also a member of the Royal Irish 
Academy: very unusual honours to be conferred upon 
a woman. Is it not matter both for wonder and for 
lamentation, that the guardians of learning, the pa- 
trons of literature, and the princes of science, have been 
so indifferent to the intellectual claims of the female 
sex ? Surely sages and philosophers should not be the 



220 MODEL WOMEN. 

last to rescue woman from the neglect of ignorance 
and the contempt of frivolity ; to lift her up to her 
proper elevation in the sight of the world ; and en- 
hance their own dignity by associating her with them- 
selves. There can be no doubt but that the univer- 
sities would have conferred their most honourable 
diplomas upon Miss Herschel, had she not been a 
woman. 

In her last days, she was not idle. She had known 
the pleasures of science, and been thrilled as she heard 
her illustrious brother detail the steps by which he 
had made his discoveries, — had actually stood by the 
great philosopher as he fixed his delighted and reverent 
eye on the stupendous wonders of the firmament so 
thickly and Divinely studded with worlds, and seen 
him lay the deep and broad foundations of his im- 
perishable fame ; and had been stimulated to seek 
like noble rewards, by a diligent and irreproachable 
use of her own fine natural talents. As a woman of 
intellectual height and strength, and with a field of 
inexhaustible material over which to expatiate, she 
laboured with corresponding success; laid open the 
secrets of nature, and explained her deeper mysteries ; 
enlarged the domain of knowledge ; awakened the 
spirit of inquiry ; breathed fresh life into philosophy, 
and gave to the world the promise of ever-accumu- 
lating truth. Her favourite study we hesitate not to 
place first. No science " so perfectly illustrates the 
gradual growth and development of human genius, 
as Astronomy : the movement of the mind has been 
constantly onward; its highest energies have ever 
been called into requisition ; and there never has been 
a time when Astronomy did not present problems, 



SCIENTIFIC WOMEN. 221 

not only equal to all that man conld do, but passing 
beyond the limits of his greatest intellectual vigour ; 
and hence in all ages and countries, the absolute 
strength of human genius may be measured by its 
reach to unfold the mysteries of the stars." 

On the 16th of March, 1847, the press announced 
that Miss Herschel had celebrated the ninety- seventh 
anniversary of her birthday. A letter from Hanover 
informs us that the king on that occasion, " sent to 
compliment her ; the prince and princess royal paid • 
her a visit, and the latter presented her with a mag- 
nificent arm-chair, the back of which had been em- 
broidered by her royal highness ; and the minister of 
Prussia, in the name of his sovereign, remitted to her 
the gold medal awarded for the extension of the 
sciences." The labours of Miss Herschel had shed a 
glory over her country, and the trump of fame now 
gave her name to the world as a woman of unrivalled 
attainments. Governments are slow to learn ; and 
certainly they are not the first to appreciate the fruits 
of genius. The liberal expenditure of the national 
means for the advancement of science, would shed 
real glory over every country and every age ; and it 
therefore reflects infinite honour on these German 
sovereigns, that they took her under their immediate 
and special patronage. There are truths yet to be 
searched out and declared, which shall equal, it 
may be surpass, the most stupendous announcements 
which have yet been made. Surely " such truths 
are things quite as worthy of struggles and sacrifices 
as many of the objects for which nations contend and 
exhaust their physical and moral energies and re- 
sources : they are gems of real and durable glory 



222 MODEL WOMEN. 

in the diadems of princes; conquests which, while 
they leave no tears behind them, continue for ever 
inalienable.' ' 

Soon after the event referred to, her distinguished 
nephew, Sir John F. W. Herschel, wrote a letter to 
the Athenceum, in which he stated that notwithstanding 
her advanced age and bodily infirmities, Miss Herschel 
was still in the possession of all her faculties. 

But although she was not called to die when she 
had just begun to live, nor to quit her investigations 
for ever when she had just begun to learn how to 
study ; the hour of her departure was at hand. Gold 
cannot bribe death. Human power and grandeur 
cannot save from the grave. Genius cannot elude 
the king of terrors. The rich and the poor, the 
learned and the unlearned, the wise and the foolish, 
meet together here : — 

" Their golden cordials cannot ease 

Their pained hearts or aching heads ; 
Nor fright nor bribe approaching death 
From glittering roofs and downy beds. 

The lingering, the unwilling soul, 

The dismal summons must obey ; 
And bid a long, a sad farewell, 

To the pale lump of lifeless clay. 

Hence they are huddled to the grave, 

Where kings and slaves have equal thrones ; 

Their bones without distinction lie 
Amongst the heap of meaner bones. " 

Miss Herschel died on the 9 th of January, 1848, in 
the ninety-eighth year of her age. Her end was 
tranquil and free from suffering — a simple cessation 
of life. 



SCIENTIFIC WOMEN. 223 

It seems to be a law of human nature that however 
long we may have been abroad, and however comfort- 
able our foreign residence may have been, we are yet 
drawn by old affection to our native country, there to 
spend the evening of our life. Graciously has Pro- 
vidence implanted within us this desire of returning 
to the place of our childhood ; that being thereby made 
to feel how valueless this world is in itself, and to 
yearn after those dear ones who have gone before us, 
our own preparation for going hence may be advanced. 
Such, doubtless, were the feelings of Miss Herschel 
when returning to her native Hanover after many 
years of activity spent in various other places. Her 
funeral took place on the 18th of January; the 
coffin was adorned with palm branches, by order of 
the Princess Royal, and followed by a royal carriage. 
A long and useful life had been beautifully closed ; 
and her body was committed to the earth, in the sure 
and certain hope that her soul was in heaven. 
Soundly she slumbers in a German tomb : and al- 
though the place that once knew her knows her no 
more, she is not forgotten, but her memory is sweet 
and fragrant still. 

ASTRONOMICAL DISCOVERIES- 

Though sitting up all night, especially in winter, 
doing all the duties of an assistant astronomer to her 
brother, she found time for a series of independent 
observations with a small Newtonian telescope, made 
for her by Sir William. With this instrument 
she swept the heavens, and discovered eight new 
comets, in regard to five of which she was the first 



224 MODEL WOMEN. 

discoverer. These discoveries were made on August 
1st, 1786; December 21st, 1788; January 9th, 1790; 
April 17th, 1790; December 15th, 1791 ; October 7th, 
1793; November 7th, 1795; and August 6th, 1797. 
The following account of a new comet was addressed 
to Charles Blagden, Esq., M.D., F.R.S., and read 
before the Royal Society, November the 9th, 1786. 

" Sir, — In consequence of the friendship which I 
know to exist between you and my brother, I venture 
to trouble you in his absence with the following im- 
perfect account of a comet. 

" The employment of writing down my observations, 
when my brother uses the 20 feet reflector, does not 
often allow me time to look at the heavens ; but as he 
is now on a visit to Germany, J have taken the oppor- 
tunity to sweep, in his absence, in the neighbourhood of 
the sun, in search of comets. And last night, the 1st 
of August, about ten o'clock, I found an object resem- 
bling in colour and brightness the twenty- seventh 
nebula of the Oonnoissance des Temps, with the differ- 
ence, however, of being round. I suspect it to be a 
comet ; but a haziness coming on, it was not possible 
entirely to satisfy myself as to its motion till this 
evening. I made several drawings of the stars in the 
field of view with it, and have inclosed a copy of them, 
with my observations annexed, that you may compare 
them together. 

" August 1, 1786, 9h. 50' . The object in the centre 
is like a star out of focus, while the rest are perfectly 
distinct, and I suspect it to be a comet. Tab. 1., 

% i. 

"lOh. 33', fig. 2. The suspected comet makes now a 
perfect isosceles triangle with the two stars, A andB. 



SCIENTIFIC WOMEN. 225 

" Ilk 8'. I think the situation of the comet is 
now as in fig. 3 ; but it is so hazy that I cannot suffi- 
ciently see the small star to be assured of the motion. 

" By the naked eye the comet is between the 54th 
and 53rd UrsaG Majoris, and the 14th, 15th, and 16th 
Comae Berenices, and makes an obtuse triangle 
with them, the vertex of which is turned towards the 
south. 

"August 2, lOh. 9'. The comet is now, with 
respect to the stars A and B, situated as in fig. 4. 
Therefore the motion since last night is evident. 

" lOh. 30' . Another considerable star, C, may be 
taken into the field with it, by placing A in the centre ; 
when the comet and the other star will both appear 
in the circumference, as in fig. 5. 

" These observations were made with a Newtonian 
sweeper of 27 inches focal length, and power of about 
20. The field of view is 2° 12' . I cannot find the stars 
A and C in any catalogue, but I suppose they may 
easily be traced in the heavens ; whence the situation 
of the comet, as it was last night at lOh. 33' , may be 
pretty nearly ascertained. 

" You will do me the favour of communicating these 
observations to my brother's astronomical friends. 
" I have the honour to be, etc., 

" Caeoline Heeschel. 

" Slough, neae Windsoe, August 2, 1786." 

Many also of the nebulae contained in Sir "W. 
Herschel's catalogues were detected by her. Indeed 
the unconquerable industry of the sister challenges 
our admiration quite as much as the intellectual power 
of the brother. 

Q 



226 MODEL WOMEN. 

WORKS ON ASTRONOMY. 

We shall not attempt fully to discuss Miss Herschel's 
astronomical works. Indeed her labours are so inti- 
mately connected with, and are generally so dependent 
upon, those of her illustrious brother, that an investi- 
gation of the latter is absolutely necessary before we 
can form the most remote idea of the extent of the 
former. In 1798 she completed "A catalogue of 561 
Stars from Flamsteed's Observations," contained in the 
" Historia Caslestis," but which had escaped the notice 
of those who framed the " British Catalogue." For this 
valuable work which was published, together with a 
general index of reference to every observation of 
every star inserted in the "British Catalogue," at the 
expense of the Royal Society, in one volume, her 
brother wrote an introduction. To the utility of these 
volumes in subsequent researches, Mr. Baily, in the 
life of Mamsteed, bears ample testimony. 

She moreover finished, in 1828, the reduction and 
arrangement of 2500 nebulas to the 1st of January, 
1800, presenting in one view the results of all Sir 
William Herschel's observations on those bodies ; and 
thus bringing to a close half a century spent in 
astronomical labour, probably unparalleled either in 
magnitude or importance. But to deliver an eulogy 
upon her memory is not our purpose. Suffice it to 
say that her name will live even when the time comes 
that the astronomical celebrity of a woman will not 
by the mere circumstance of sex excite the slightest 
remark. 



SCIENTIFIC WOMEN. 227 

CHARACTER OF MISS HERSCHEL. 

The physical constitution of MissHerschelwas good. 
At Slough, her exertions seem to have been over- 
powering. Instead of passing the night in repose, she 
was constantly with her illustrious brother, participat- 
ing in his toils, braving with him the inclemency of 
the weather, and co-operating towards his triumphs. 
According to the best of authorities she took down 
notes of the observations as they fell from his lips ; 
conveyed the rough manuscripts to her cottage at the 
dawn of day; and produced a fair copy of the night's 
work on the subsequent morning. One would have 
said that such toils would have shortened her life, but 
she lived to be very old, and till within a short period 
of her death, her health continued uninterrupted. 

Her intellect was of a supreme order. The physico- 
perceptive faculties were immensely developed, and 
these, combined with a strong and active temperament, 
delight and excel in natural science, see and survey 
nature in all her operations, and confer a talent for 
acquiring scientific knowledge. Causality was amply 
developed in Miss Herschel, and her talents form an 
excellent sample of the cast of mind it imparts. She 
will be remembered as long as astronomical records 
of the last and present century are preserved. 

The moral feelings were strong in Miss Herschel. 
She disapproved of all violence, irreverence, and in- 
justice. None knew better than she that love is the 
just debt due to every human being, and the discipline 
which God has ordained to prepare us for heaven. 
Hence she was civil and obliging, free from jealousy, 
dissimulation, and envy. In a word, she possessed a 
noble disposition. Q 2 



228 MODEL WOMEN. 

SECTION IL—JANE ANN TAYLOR [JANET 
TAYLOR]. 

"We believe that she was as gentle and simple in herself, as 
she was deeply versed in the abstruse science which she professed. 
Perhaps some surviving relative or friend may be able to throw 
light on the life and labours of one who was as extraordinary 
from her acquirements of knowledge as from her social reticence." 

Y.L.Y., in The Athenceum. 



NAVIGATION. 

It is remarkable that women have, in a great num- 
ber of instances, been distinguished by merits the 
most opposite to their imaginary and conventional 
character. The first nse of ships as distinguished 
from boats appears to have been by the early Egyp- 
tians, who are believed to have reached the western 
coast of India, besides navigating the Mediterranean. 
But whatever may have been their prowess upon the 
waves, they were soon eclipsed by the citizens of 
Tyre, who, to compensate for the nnproductiveness of 
their small territory, laid the sea under tribute, and 
made their city the great emporium of Eastern and 
European trade. The Greek states gradually de- 
veloped the art of navigation, and at the time of the 
Peloponnesian war, the Athenians seem to have been 
skilful conductors of vessels at sea. Rome next 
manifested maritime daring. Time rolled on and the 
Saxon, Jutish, and Norse prows began to roam the 
ocean in every direction. The Norsemen extended 
their voyages to Iceland, Greenland, and Newfound- 
land. The sea had no terrors for these hardy rovers. 
The introduction of the mariner's compass made the 



SCIENTIFIC WOMEN. 229 

sailor independent of sun and stars ; and the discovery 
of the variation of the compass rendered navigation 
more secure. The two first treatises on systematic 
navigation appeared in Spain, one by Pedro de 
Medina, the other by Martin Cortes. These were 
speedily translated into French, Dutch, English, etc., 
and for many years served as the text-books of practi- 
cal navigation. It would be tedious to enumerate the 
successive improvements in the science of navigation ; 
suffice it to say, that for its present high perfection, it 
is under some obligation to female intellect. 



BIOGRAPHY. 

Jane Ann Jonn, was born on the 13th of May, 
1804, at Wolsingham, a market town and parish in 
the county of Durham, and about thirteen miles from 
that ancient and celebrated city. She was the fourth 
daughter of the Rev. Peter Jonn and Jane Deighton, 
his wife. Her father was curate of Wolsingham, and 
head master of the grammar school. 

"When about ten years of age, she got an appoint- 
ment to Queen Charlotte's school, at Ampthill, in 
Bedfordshire, a small town pleasantly situate, partly 
upon, and partly between two gentle acclivities, forty 
miles from London. The establishment being very 
select, and the other girls much older, she became a 
great favourite with them, and learned much from 
them. When the very plain, but rigidly virtuous 
queen, died at Kew, on the 17th of November, 1818, 
Miss Jonn, was sent by her father to a boarding- 
school conducted by Mr. and Mrs. Stables, at Hendon, 
near the village of Hampstead, Middlesex. Here she 



230 MODEL WOMEN. 

assisted in teaching, as well as received lessons from 
various masters ; and whilst a certain amount of 
seclusion was secured by a suburban residence, Lon- 
don was close at hand : the working London with its 
inspiring life. 

However well this boarding-school was carried on, 
we have no reason to believe that it made Miss Jonn 
a learned woman. Female education then, and some- 
times even now, is simply a little outside polish. It 
does not teach to think ; it does not develope mind ; 
it does not confer power ; it does not form character ; 
it does not do anything to mould girls into the noblest 
types of womanhood. 

After leaving the quiet retreat at Hendon, she was 
many years a governess in the family cf the Rev. Mr. 
Huntly, of Kimbolton, in Huntingdonshire. This 
employment no doubt has recommendations, it cer- 
tainly has serious drawbacks ; among those that are 
inevitable is the effect of a lonely life on the governess. 
A great effort may be made to treat her as one of the 
family, but she does not really belong to it ; and must 
spend the greater part of her time with young and 
immature minds, only varied by unequal association 
with the parents or grown-up brothers and sisters of 
her pupils. The society of her equals in age and 
position is entirely wanting, and the natural tendency 
of such mental soltitude is to produce childishness, 
angularity, and narrow-mindedness. It must be a strong 
character indeed which can do without such whole- 
some trituration and the expansive influence of equal 
companionship, and this is just what a governess 
cannot have. She is moreover, always a bird of 
passage, and in this respect her position is worse than 



SCIENTIFIC WOMEN. 231 

that of a domestic servant, who, besides being better 
remunerated and having the companionship of fel- 
low-servants, may look forward to remaining in one 
family for life. 

About the year 1829, Miss Jonn left Kimbolton 
and went to London to keep the house of one of her 
brothers. Soon after she went on a visit to a sister 
at Antwerp. "Without attempting to detail her im- 
pressions concerning the numerous churches, convents, 
magnificent public buildings, elaborate and extensive 
fortifications, and stately antique-looking houses which 
line the older thoroughfares of that exceedingly pic- 
turesque city ; we may say that during that journey 
Mr. George Taylor met her, and on the 1st of Feb., 
1830, they were married at the British Ambassador's 
chapel, at the Hague. On their return to London, 
Mrs. Taylor commenced teaching navigation, at 104, 
Minories. In consequence of her singular abilities in 
that branch of scieuce, she gained the confidence 
and approval of the Board of Admiralty and the 
Trinity Brethren, as well as several foreign powers. 
Her husband meanwhile, was a manager for Sir 
Henry Meux, the well-known brewer, which situation 
he held till his death in 1859. Instead of being a 
burden to her five sons and one daughter, by means 
of her establishment in the Minories she more than 
provided for her own wants. 

The English nation may be slow in perceiving 
merit, but when perceived, none appreciate it more 
highly. There is not an honour which we have to 
bestow, which is not designed to be awarded to those 
who have proved their title to it by steady worth. 
Mrs. Taylor began life with no wealth and with no 



232 MODEL WOMEN. 

patronage from powerful friends. She was depen- 
dent on her own efforts. When she enlarged her 
acquaintance beyond the limits of her girlhood and 
youth, she did not encounter a cold and unfriendly 
world, or find that those who had not before known 
her were disposed to impede her progress, or to throw 
embarrassments in her path. She came to London 
with but little experience, and with no such reputa- 
tion as to make success certain. But by a diligent 
and irreproachable use of fine natural talents, she con- 
structed her own greatness, and manufactured her 
own fortune. It is a good thing that even a woman 
may find many fields of usefulness, before which there 
is not the tiniest wicket-gate ; and we rejoice to know 
that many women pursue in peace those paths to 
glory and gain that are already open to them. 

Mrs. Taylor had the honour of being presented 
to King William and Queen Adelaide, whose amiable 
disposition and habitual beneficence made her a great 
favourite with the British nation. She had also the 
offer of a situation as reader to our present queen. 
But as the salary was small, and the attendance on 
her majesty was likely to interfere with her family 
and scientific arrangements, it was declined. In this 
decision, Edward Maltby, D.D., then Bishop of Dur- 
ham concurred, and at the first meeting of the British 
Association held in Neweastle-on-Tyne, in 1838, made 
honourable mention of her. At the world's great 
assembly in 1851, she exhibited an ingeniously con- 
trived little instrument — a quadrant and sextant — 
which the queen graciously accepted for the Prince 
of Wales. Mrs. Taylor received a medal from the 
King of the Netherlands, also in 1860 a very compli- 



SCIENTIFIC WOMEN. 233 

mentary letter from the present pope, Pius IX., with 
a medal. 

On the accession of Qneen Victoria, £1200 was 
intrusted to her Majesty for the payment of pensions 
to persons who have jnst claims on the royal bene- 
ficence, or who, by their personal services to the 
crown, by the performance of duties to the public, or 
by their useful discoveries in science, and attainments 
in literature and the arts, have merited the gracious 
consideration of their sovereign and the gratitude of 
their country. In consequence of her valuable ser- 
vices in the fields of science, Mrs. Taylor's name was 
added to the civil list, and in 1862, she disposed of 
her business at 104, Minories, and retired to Camber- 
well Grove, on a pension of £50 per annum. Those 
who desolate nations, stay the progress of arts, manu- 
factures, knowledge, civilization, benevolence, and re- 
ligion; and sweep myriads of their fellow- creatures, 
unprepared, into eternity, we load with titles and 
treasures ; and those who by their self-denying de- 
votedness to the investigation of truth, have conferred 
benefits upon mankind, and thus deserved imperish- 
able monuments, we reward with a pension of £50 ! 

Though life with Mrs. Taylor was real and earnest, 
it was still in the review like a dream, and she was 
brought somewhat suddenly to the point where things 
seen lose all their importance, and things unseen be- 
come the only realities. She spent the evening of 
life — an evening worthy of the day, and beaming with 
the mild radiance that gave promise of a glorious 
morning of immortality — in visiting her relatives and 
friends. On the 15th of January, 1870, she went to 
Bishop- Aukland, a small town in the middle of her 



234 MODEL WOMEN. 

native county of Durham, pleasantly situated on an 
eminence, nearly 140 feet above the level of the 
plain; to spend a few days with her brother-in- 
law, the Rev. T. Chester, at the vicarage of St. 
Helen's. The following week she was seized with 
bronchitis, and gradually sank until she died on 
Wednesday morning, January the 26th, in the sixty- 
sixth year of her age. 

The death of Mrs. Taylor excited a degree of sym- 
pathy throughout the north of England, in London, 
and indeed in many other parts of the kingdom, that 
indicated how high and general was the esteem in 
which she was held. The funeral took place on the 
Saturday. A select body of relatives and friends 
assembled at the vicarage, St. Helen's. As they 
approached the vault of her brother-in-law, the com- 
pany bared their heads, while the body was com- 
mitted to the ground, in the beautiful language of 
the English ritual ; and then bade reluctantly a long 
adieu to one of the most distinguished of women. 

" For who to dumb forgetfulness a prey 

This pleasing anxious being e'er resigned ? 
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day, 
Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind? " 



PUBLICATION'S ON NAVIGATION. 

The question cui bono ? to what practical end and 
advantage do your researches tend ? is one which 
the truly scientific mind can seldom hear without a 
sense of humiliation. There is a lofty and disinte- 
rested pleasure in such pursuits which ought to 



SCIENTIFIC WOMEN. 235 

exempt them from such questioning. Endowed with 
great capacity and relish for intellectual pursuits, 
Mrs. Taylor never made such an inquiry. 

In 1846, her first work — " Directions for using the 
Planisphere of the Stars, with Illustrative, and Ex- 
planatory Problems " — appeared, accompanied by "A 
Planisphere of the Fixed Stars." The Morning Post 
said, " Though this work only professes to guide the 
learner to the positions of the fixed stars, it is calcu- 
lated to impart a good deal of knowledge of astronomy, 
in a very simple and intelligible manner, and in a 
very short time." A second edition was published 
in 1847. " Diurnal Register for Barometer, Sym- 
presometer, Thermometer and Hygrometer ; with a 
few brief Remarks on the Instruments," was issued 
about this time, and dedicated by permission to Col. 
Sir William Reid, K.C.B., F.R.S., governor of Malta ; 
a name that must ever be revered by those whose 
" path is in the sea," and whose associations and 
wanderings lead them to cross the bosom of the 
mighty waters. This volume enables mariners and 
others to mark the exact derivation and variation of the 
barometer, etc., at any hour, by a single dot, and con- 
tains a brief description of the different instruments, 
and the principles on which they are constructed. It 
was characterised by the Athenceum, as "A useful 
work with excellent directions," and reached seven 
editions, or more. In 1851, the ninth edition of " An 
Epitome of Navigation and Nautical Astronomy, with 
improved Lunar Tables," was presented to the world. 
This work is dedicated with heartfelt gratitude to 
the Hon. the Elder Brethren of the Corporation of 
Trinity House, London. In this book the tables 



286 MODEL WOMEN. 

familiar to the mariner are presented in a very much 
improved shape ; and the rules by which the young 
sailor is directed in the attainment of that knowledge, 
which is indispensable to success in his future career, 
are clearly laid down, and under each rule examples 
are given. The organs of the day expressed their 
opinions in terms of the highest eulogy. The Liver- 
pool Mail said, " Mrs. Taylor indeed merits high 
praise, and we add national gratitude ; she has re- 
moved the chief difficulties which obscured the science 
of navigation. We have no hesitation in saying, that 
here is the most complete treatise on navigation which 
has ever been published." In 1854, the seventh 
edition of " Lunar and Horary Tables : with the 
shortest method of finding the Longitude and the 
Time," appeared. This work was highly recom- 
mended by gentlemen well qualified to test its merits, 
and who could not be affected by mere partialities. 
It gives a very simple, easy, and accurate method of 
working the lunar problem. These learned and 
laudable volumes were deposited in the library of the 
Vatican, in 1860. 

The above are not all the writings of Mrs. Taylor, 
but they are amply sufficient to prove that she was a 
mathematician of the first class. Her logarithmic 
tables are correct and complete in no ordinary degree. 
Such rare knowledge she did not gain from merely 
attending lectures on the various subjects which her 
own taste led her to cultivate, or which fell within 
her reach. Neither did she furnish her mind by the 
mere reading of books. In both ways, or in either, 
it is true, much information may be acquired; but 
still it may be knowledge only imposed upon the 



SCIENTIFIC WOMEN. 237 

mind, not received within it. Knowledge, to be use- 
ful, must be attained by young and old, through an 
exercise of the reasoning power which very quickly 
leads to a conviction that the learner is treading upon 
firm ground. Between a woman who tests and tries 
every opinion and principle subjected to her notice, 
and one who does not, there are no points of compari- 
son; the one may adopt false sentiments, but the 
other cannot be said to have any sentiments at all, 
only a collection of prejudices and predilections in 
their place. 

NAUTICAL AND MATHEMATICAL ACADEMY. 

In comparing the achievements of the sexes, we must 
not forget that the mind which has most dazzled or 
benefited the nations has received its first instructions 
from a mother's, and probably its last from a wife's 
lips. " Though the sinewy sex achieves enterprises 
on public theatres, it is the nerve and sensibility of 
the other that arm the mind and inflame the soul in 
secret. Everywhere man executes the performance, 
but woman trains the man." Mrs. Taylor exercised 
not only the influence of a wife and a mother, but also 
that of a very efficient professional teacher of male 
pupils. The conduct of a large academy for sailors may 
seem to many an unsuitable employment for a woman ; 
likely to injure, and to a great extent destroy her 
beautiful nature. But it is certain that Mrs. Taylor's 
mind lost none of its refinement by the rude associa- 
tions with which it was brought into contact, while 
her great administrative power enabled her to manage 
the establishment in an admirable manner. There is 



238 MODEL WOMEN. 

a certain chivalry amongst the most uncultivated men, 
when they know that they cannot be compelled to do 
a thing by force, which will often make them yield. 
We have known a class of unruly lads in a ragged 
school, utterly unamenable to the discipline of a man, 
yield implicit obedience to a young woman, as a bad- 
tempered horse is sometimes most easily guided by a 
female hand that is both skilful and light. 

Mrs. Taylor's Nautical and Mathematical Academy, 
was under the patronage of the Admiralty, Trinity 
House, East India House, and Kings of Holland and 
Prussia. The upper schoolrooms were under the 
direction of a highly qualified master, and devoted to 
the preparation of masters and mates in the navy and 
merchant service ; and the lower schoolrooms were 
superintended by a mathematical master, and every 
care was taken that the junior pupils should be pro- 
gressively fitted for the highest grade of examinations. 
She also undertook to place those pupils who had no re- 
lations in town, under the care and superintendence of 
families, where they received every domestic comfort 
and attention, when not engaged in the academy. 
Terms, to be paid on entrance. A complete course of 
navigation, including trigonometry, and its application 
to navigation, £6 6s. ; a general course of navigation, 
£4 4s. ; algebra, £2 2s. ; geometry, £2 2s. ; a course 
of algebra and geometry, £3 3s. ; a practical course 
of astronomy, specially in relation to navigation, 
£2 2s. ; physical geography, etc., £2 2s. ; mechanics, 
etc., £2 2s. Also a general course, including the 
whole of the above, on moderate terms. ISTor was this 
all. Lectures illustrative of these subjects were 
delivered in the upper schoolroom to those studying 



SCIENTIFIC WOMEN. 239 

in the academy, each of whom was at liberty to intro- 
duce a friend. 



CHARACTER OF MRS. TAYLOR. 

The fall, in a physiological sense, whatever may be 
said of the theological dogma so termed, is no myth. 
The general lack of vigour, especially in the female 
sex, might be quoted in evidence of its truth. Miss 
Catherine E. Beecher, in her "Letters to the People," 
says: " I am not able to recall, in my immense circle of 
friends and acquaintances all over the Union, so many 
as ten married ladies, born in this century and in this 
country, who are perfectly sound, healthy, and vigor- 
ous." Mrs. Taylor was rather tall, somewhat slender, 
and a little defective in muscular development. For 
many years she was subject to a disease of very com- 
mon occurrence in Great Britain. Her head was 
large, and in perfect harmony with all its component 
parts. The brow broad, smooth, and high, gave the 
face a pyriform appearance, which diminished gra- 
dually as it descended, till it terminated in the deli- 
cate outline of the chin. 

Intellect was the constitutional guide of her entire 
being. An active temperament and strong and evenly- 
balanced mental powers enabled her to awaken the 
minds of her pupils, and to write what was worth 
perusal and re-perusal. She spent much time and 
money and care on science. Her quick perceptive 
faculties ranged the heavens, explored the earth, and 
fathomed the sea, in search of facts, which her pro- 
minent reflective powers enabled her to explain and 
apply, so as to accomplish innumerable ends otherwise 



240 MODEL WOMEN. 

unattainable. A more quiet and singular union of 
rare powers in a woman, than hers, does not occur 
to us. 

Mrs. Taylor had not only a well-cultivated Lend, 
but what was better, a healthy, affectionate, and loving 
heart. She had a lively moral sense for perceiving 
right and wrong. Perhaps the greatest of her moral 
attributes was charity. Enjoying only a moderate com- 
petence, and obliged to make a decent appearance in 
life, slie nevertheless gave large sums to those from 
whom lover and friend were put far away, whose harp 
was turned into mourning, and their organ into (lie 
voice of them that weep. 



CHAPTER VII. 



SECTION L—SELINA, COUNTESS OF 
HUNTINGDON 

" She stands, indeed, so connected with almost all which was 
good in the last century, that the character of the age, so far as 
religion is concerned, was in some measure her own. It is not 
insinuated that she alone impressed that character on the Church, 
but that she entirely sympathised with it, and was not a whit 
behind the foremost in affection for souls and zeal for God, in 
spirituality of mind and fervour of devotion, in contrivance and 
energy for the extension of the gospel, in a large and disinterested 
soul." J. K. Fostee. 



BELIGION NOT A THING OF SEX. 

Christianity breathes a spirit of the most diffusive 
charity and goodwill ; and wherever its power is felt, 
it moulds the character into the image of benevolence. 
The great principles of the religion of Jesus secure 
to woman, as an unquestionable right, that elevation 
and high position in society, which His conduct and 
that of His followers conferred. Immorality trembles, 
domestic tyranny retires abashed, before the majesty 
of religion, and peace pervades that dwelling where 
power was law and woman a slave. The gospel be- 
longs to neither sex, bWb to both. It wears no party 
badge, but as by a zone of love, elastic enough to be 

R 



242 MODEL WOMEN. 

stretched round the globe, seeks to bind the whole 
race together. The most effectual method of degrad- 
ing woman is to barbarize man, and the snrest means 
of dignifying her is to Christianize him. A council 
in the fifth century, we believe, discussed the question 
whether woman was included in the redemption; 
but it is now only, we think, among the Jews of Tunis 
that any such belief is maintained. Happily, too, we 
are past the time when good old Coverdale, the cele- 
brated translator of the Bible, could write with some 
kind of real or affected surprise, " He maketh even 
women to be declarers of His resurrection!" It is 
now a matter of extreme surprise that the half of the 
human race should at any time, in civilized lands, 
have had their share in Christ's atonement for the 
world disputed. 

BIOGRAPHY. 

Lady Selina Shirley, the second daughter of Wash- 
ington Shirley, was born at Stanton Harold, long the 
seat of the Shirley family, on the 24th August, 1707. 
The mansion was situated in a fine park of one 
hundred and fifty acres, well wooded, and diversified 
by hill and dale. It stood near the ancient town of 
Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The grounds were laid out with 
great taste, and a spacious lake of ornamental water 
reflected a handsome stone bridge, which was thrown 
across it. She inherited the talents and benevolent 
disposition of her father, and from a very early age 
sought Divine direction in all that she did. When 
only nine years old, she saw a corpse about her own 
age carried to its last resting place. She followed it 



HOLY WOMEN. 243 

to the grave, and with many tears cried earnestly to 
God on the spot, that whenever He should be pleased 
to take her away, He wonld deliver her from all fears, 
and give her a happy departure. She often afterwards 
visited the grave, and always preserved a lively sense 
of the affecting scene. 

She received an education which successfully drew 
out the talents of her mind, the disposition of her 
heart, and the graceful deportment of her manners. 
Her acquirements were much beyond the ordinary 
standard of the age in which she lived. When she 
grew up, and was introduced into the world, and made 
her appearance at court, she manifested no inclina- 
tion to follow the example of her companions in the 
gaieties of fashionable life. The habitual realization 
of Divine things preserved her arnicl scenes of great 
danger. 

Lady Selina Shirley often prayed that she might 
marry into a serious family, and on June 3rd, 1728, 
she was united in matrimony to Theophilus, the ninth 
Earl of Huntingdon. None kept up more the ancient 
dignity and heraldic glory than the house of Hunting- 
don ; but the strict decorum and outward propriety 
which she observed were far more grateful to her 
than riches or renown. Mary Queen of Scots was 
for some time confided to the keeping of the Earl of 
Huntingdon ; and King James the First and his 
consort were often visitors at the famous castle of 
Ashby. Lady Huntingdon maintained, in this high 
estate, a peculiar seriousness of conduct. Though 
sometimes at court, she took no pleasure in the 
fashionable follies of the great. At Donnington Park 
she was known as the Lady Bountiful by her neigh- 

e2 



244 MODEL WOMEN. 

bours and dependants. Often might she have been 
seen standing over the sick and dying, administering 
to their temporal wants, and reading the Scriptures 
to them. 

Her heart was now truly engaged to God, so she laid 
her coronet at the Redeemer's feet, and resolved, ac- 
cording to her ability, to lay herself ont to do good. In 
1 738, when John and Charles Wesley preached in the 
neighbourhood of Donnington Park, she sent a kind 
message to them, acknowledging that she was one at 
heart with them, bidding them good speed in the 
name of the Lord, and assuring them of her determi- 
nation to live for Him who had died for her. The 
oratory of the Methodists was fervid and powerful ; 
and the spiritual fire which glowed within, animated 
their discourses, and attracted many to the standard 
of the cross. The number of ordained ministers was 
insufficient to meet the demands for their services. 
But a new agency was now springing up : holy and 
gifted laymen began to preach, and their labours were 
crowned with greater success than those of the most 
illustrious men sent from colleges and universities. 
It should never be forgotten that we owe all the 
blessings which the world has received from lay 
preachers chiefly to the good sense and spiritual 
discernment of Lady Huntingdon. 

In the summer of 1743, the Earl and Countess of 
Huntingdon, with the Ladies Hastings, visited York- 
shire, where the work of the Lord was making great 
progress. Soon after her return she was called upon 
to endure severe domestic trials. Two of her beloved 
sons died within a short period of each other, one aged 
thirteen, and the other aged ten years. In April, 



HOLY WOMEN. 245 

1746, Lady Huntingdon was attacked by a serious 
illness; but by the skill of her medical attendants, 
and the blessing of God, she was restored to health 
and strength. Scarcely had she recovered from the 
loss of her children, and her own illness, before she 
was bereaved of her husband, Lord Huntingdon, who 
died at his house in Downing Street, Westminster, 
October 13th, 1746. But these and subsequent per- 
sonal and family afflictions only awakened her mind 
toward religious concernments, and caused her to be 
more energetic in the diffusion of Christian principles. 
Lord Huntingdon left his widow in uncontrolled com- 
mand of an income amply sufficient for maintaining 
her position, with her surviving children, in the style 
which befitted her rank ; but confining her expen- 
diture within narrow limits, she regarded her fortune 
as a trust which it was her happiness to administer 
in furtherance of the highest purposes. 

Lady Huntingdon now became the open and avowed 
patroness of all the zealous ministers of Christ, espe- 
cially of those who were suffering for the testimony 
of Jesus. In the spring of 1758 she threw open her 
house in London for the preaching of the gospel. 
Many of the distinguished nobility attended the 
services ; among whom were the Duchess of Bed- 
ford, Grafton, Hamilton, and Richmond; Lords 
Weymouth, Tavistock, Trafford, Northampton, Lyttle- 
ton, Dacre, and Hertford; Ladies Dacre, Jane Scott, 
Anne Cronnolly, Elizabeth Kepple, Coventry, Hert- 
ford, Northumberland, etc., etc. She was far in 
advance of her times in catholicity of spirit and 
liberality of sentiment, and frequently stimulated the 
great leaders of Methodism to extend their operations, 



246 MODEL WOMEN. 

when they were inclined to restrict them to certain 
modes of action. She loved all who loved the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and formed an acquaintance with many- 
pious and distinguished Dissenters. 

Hitherto, her Ladyship had confined her exertions 
to England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales; but in 
1772, in consequence of becoming proprietrix of pos- 
sessions in the province of Georgia, she organized a 
mission to North America. On the 27th of October, 
the missionaries embarked, and after a passage of 
only six weeks, reached the place of their destina- 
tion, without having experienced one day of real bad 
weather. Their labours were crowned with singular 
success. 

Her labours increased with her years. She saw 
the spiritual darkness which was overclouding the 
people ; was thoroughly acquainted with the character 
of the agency already in existence, and knew how 
insufficient it was to reach the mass of the people- 
But instead of being honoured for endeavouring to 
bring the sound of the gospel within the hearing of 
the people, her labours were denounced as irregular, 
and her name was blackened with reproach. Towards 
the close of 1781, her mind was greatly distressed by 
unpleasant differences which sprang up in her congre- 
gation at Reading. Still it was evident that God was 
blessing her labours, that the fields were white unto 
the harvest. The Countess, therefore, determined to 
appoint four of her most distinguished clergymen 
to itinerate through England, and blow the gospel 
trumpet. Many were converted to the Lord, and 
small congregations were gathered, which grew into 
important churches. 



HOLY WOMEN. 247 

It had always been the earnest desire of Lady- 
Huntingdon that neither she nor her Connection 
should sever the tie that bound them to the Church of 
England. But in consequence of processes instituted 
in the Ecclesiastical Courts, and the law laid down 
on the subject, no alternative was left them. Accord- 
ingly, in 1783, they reluctantly assumed the position 
of Dissenters, at the same time retaining the liturgy 
with some modifications, the forms and even the 
vestments of the Church of England, without its 
Episcopacy. A confession of faith was drawn up, and 
a declaration was set forth, that " some things in the 
liturgy, and many things in the discipline and govern- 
ment of the Established Church, being contrary to 
Holy Scripture, they have felt it necessary to secede/ ' 
Hitherto the great burden of conducting the affairs of 
her Connection had mainly devolved upon the Coun- 
tess herself; but now feeling the infirmities of age, 
she bequeathed by her will, dated January 11th, 
1790, all her churches and residences to trustees. 
Her family confirmed this disposition of her property, 
and the trustees strictly carried out the intentions of 
the testatrix. 

Now, almost at the close of her long and arduous 
course, the venerable Countess truly experienced the 
blessedness of those who die in the Lord, and whose 
works do follow them. Sometimes she appeared to 
catch a glimpse of the celestial mansions, and then 
her weather-beaten features were lighted up with a 
heavenly glory. The bursting of a blood-vessel was 
the commencement of her last illness. She manifested 
the greatest patience and resignation, and said to 
Lady Ann Erskine, " All the little ruffles and diffi- 



248 MODEL WOMEN. 

cnlties which, surrounded me, and all the pains I am 
exercised with in this poor body, through mercy affect 
not the settled peace and joy of my soul." On the 
12th of June, 1791, a change passed over the Countess 
which afforded apprehensions of approaching death. 
A little before she died, she frequently said, " I shall 
go to my Father to-night ; " and musingly repeated, 
" Can He forget to be gracious ? Is there any end of 
His loving-kindness ? " Her physician visited her, and 
shortly after her strength failed, and she appeared to 
sink into a sleep. A friend took her hand, it was cold 
and clammy ; he felt her pulse, it was ceasing to beat ; 
and as he leaned over her, she breathed her last and 
fell asleep in Jesus. She died at her house in Spa 
Fields, June 17th, 1791, in the eighty-fourth year of 
her age. 

The news of her decease plunged the Christian world 
into grief and sadness. She was interred in the family 
vault at Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Her principal places of 
worship were hung in black ; and not only her own 
ministers, but many in the Establishment and among 
the nonconformists, preached a funeral sermon to 
testify to her worth. Many tears were shed at the 
mention of her name ; a medal was struck off as a 
memento of her death ; and her well-known features 
were embalmed in the hearts of her people. 

CONVERSION, 

According to some, only the scum and offscourings 
of society need to be born again. We believe that 
the purest, gentlest, loveliest, must undergo this 
change before they enter the kingdom of Grod. It is 



HOLY WOMEN. 249 

a radical reform, great in its character and lasting in 
its consequences. Lady Huntingdon's outward con- 
duct was always blameless, and she had moreover 
a zeal of God, yet for many years she was an utter 
stranger to the spiritual nature of the gospel of Christ. 
She saw not the depravity of the human heart ; she 
knew nothing of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, 
and of the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. 
She entertained high opinions respecting the dignity 
of human nature ; and aspired to reach, by her own 
works, the lofty standard she had placed before 
her. Liberal in her sentiments, prudent in her con- 
duct, courteous in her deportment, and profuse in her 
charities, she surpassed her equals by birth, and the 
multitudes around her. But the Countess was far 
from enjoying the happiness which she anticipated 
would result from her endeavours to recommend her- 
self to the favour of Heaven. Her sister-in-law Lady 
Margaret Hastings had been awakened to see the 
value of religious truth, and often conversed with her 
respecting the concerns of her soul. Her experience 
formed a contrast to the state of Lady Huntingdon's 
mind. A severe illness soon laid the Countess low, 
and brought her to the confines of the grave. She 
looked back to her past life, but the piety, virtue, and 
morality in which she had trusted, appeared to be 
tainted with sin. The report of the earnest preaching 
of certain clergymen, who were called Methodists, 
reached Donnington Park ; the truth impressed some 
members of the Hastings family ; and through them 
Lady Huntingdon was directed to the truth as it is 
in Jesus, and obtained lasting peace. The change in 
her heart exerted a beneficial influence on her body ; 



250 MODEL WOMEN. 

her disorder took a favourable turn ; she was restored 
to perfect health ; and she solemnly dedicated herself 
to God as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to 
the Lord. 



THE HIGHER CHRISTIAN LIFE. 

Full salvation through full trust in Jesus is at once 
the provision and the demand of the gospel, and is, of 
course, the privilege and duty of all. But the truth 
that the Lord Jesus is the righteousness of the be- 
liever, in the sense of sanctification as well as in the 
sense of justification, many are slow to perceive. Yet 
Scripture and the lives of the great and good abun- 
dantly prove, that in both senses Christ is complete 
to the believer, and in both, the believer is complete 
in Christ. The Countess of Huntingdon is a true 
and noble type of the real, whole-souled Christian. 
Religion took a strong hold upon her inner nature, 
and her apprehension of Christ in His fulness was so 
clear, that she was filled with heavenly consolations. 
The language of her heart, as well as of her lips, was 
beautifully expressed by her friend Dr. "Watts : — 

" Were the whole realm of nature mine, 
That were a present far too small ; 
Love so amazing, so divine, 

Demands my soul, my life, my all!" 

The fashionable circle in which she moved was as- 
tonished; and unable to comprehend the spiritual 
darkness through which she had passed, and the 
spiritual light she now enjoyed, ridiculed her as a 
fanatic. Some nobles even wished Lord Huntingdon 
to interpose his authority ; but he refused to interfere 



HOLY WOMEN. 251 

with her religious opinions. Dr. Southey, unblush- 
ingly asserted that the religious feelings of Lady- 
Huntingdon originated in a decided insanity in her 
family ; and adds that all the arguments of Bishop 
Benson failed in bringing her to a more rational sense 
of devotion. "Such a statement," remarks her 
latest biographer, " would not have deserved notice, 
were it not that the talents and reputation of the poet 
laureate might be regarded by many as a guarantee 
for its validity." When the rupture took place be- 
tween the Prince of Wales and his father, George II., 
and the Prince set up his own court at Kew, Lady 
Huntingdon attended it occasionally; but her fre- 
quent absence was noticed, and provoked sarcasm. 
One day the Prince of Wales inquired of Lady 
Charlotte Edwin where Lady Huntingdon was that 
she so seldom visited the circle. Lady Charlotte re- 
plied with a sneer, "I suppose praying with her 
beggars." The Prince shook his head, and, turning 
to her Ladyship, said, " Lady Charlotte, when I am 
dying, I think I shall be happy to seize the skirt of 
Lady Huntingdon's mantle, to lift me up with her to 
heaven." 

HER CHAPLAINS. 

The religious sentiments and the glowing eloquence 
of the most remarkable evangelist of modern times 
soon attracted the attention of the Countess of Hun- 
tingdon, and, in 1748, she made George Whitefield 
one of her chaplains. She then, and for many years 
afterwards, thought that, as a peeress of the realm, 
she had a right to employ the clergymen of the Church 
whom she had appointed as her chaplains in openly 



252 MODEL WOMEN. 

proclaiming the everlasting gospel. Whitefield often 
preached in the drawing-rooms of the Countess to 
large numbers of the most highly distinguished 
nobility. Gifted by nature in an unsual degree as a 
public speaker, her chaplain, despite the vilest as- 
persions, spoke as one who had received a commission 
from on high to proclaim the unsearchable riches of 
Christ ; and this mission he fulfilled with unabated 
ardour and success for nearly forty years. In the 
New World as well as the Old, Whitefield had his 
trophies, and was listened to with great delight by 
the princes of intellect and the beggars in understand- 
ing. If souls would hear the gospel only under a 
ceiled roof, he preached it there. If only in a church 
or a field, he proclaimed it there. In temples made 
with hands, the parliament of letters, of fashion, of 
theology, of statesmanship, — such men as Hume, 
Walpole, Johnson, Goldsmith, Reynolds, Garrick, 
Warburton, and Chesterfield, acknowledged the power 
of the preacher. On Moorfields, Kermington Com- 
mon, and Blackheath, vast crowds were powerfully 
impressed, and cried out for salvation. He preached at 
Kings wood, and the miners came out of their coal-pits 
in swarms — thousands on thousands flocked from Bris- 
tol, till about twenty or thirty thousand persons were 
present. The singing could be heard for two miles off, 
and the clear, rich, and powerful voice of Whitefield 
could be distinctly heard for about a mile. This is 
his own world ; he loves, he says, to " mount his field 
throne." These colliers are as ignorant of religion as 
the inhabitants of negro-land — as hardened as the 
islanders of Madagascar — without feeling or educa- 
tion, profligate, abandoned, ferocious. He addresses 



HOLY WOMEN. 253 

them, and what is the result ? Tears now from eyes 
which perhaps never shed them before. Those white 
streaks which contrast so strongly with the dark 
ground on which they are interlined, tell of the 
emotion that is going on within. This celebrated 
preacher, in his letters speaks of Lady Huntingdon 
in very flattering terms. He says, " She shines 
brighter and brighter every day, and will yet I trust 
be spared for a nursing mother to our Israel." 

A few years afterwards, the Countess took under 
her protection William Romaine, by appointing him 
one of her chaplains. He had for a long time occu- 
pied an important position in London, where he pub- 
lished several popular treatises, and a great number 
of separate discourses. But the preaching of the 
gospel was his enthusiastic work, and the calvinistic 
aspects of truth were put and kept in uniform pro- 
minence by him. He was a man of fervent piety, — 
and to shelter him from persecution, Lady Huntingdon 
secured his services to preach to the nobility in her 
drawing-rooms, the poor in her kitchen, and to all 
classes in her various places of worship. 

About 1764, she added to the number of her 
chaplains the Hon. and Rev. Walter Shirley, rector 
of Loughrea, in Ireland. His connexion with her 
ladyship raised a violent storm of persecution against 
him in his own county. But his heart was too deeply 
impressed with the truth to allow his tongue to be 
silent. He became a warm and devoted labourer in the 
various churches erected by the Countess. Thomas 
Haweis, LL.B., was also chaplain to the Countess. 
Mr. Haweis took a prominent part in the formation 
of the London Missionary Society, published many 



254 MODEL WOMEN. 

sermons, a commentary on the Bible, and other 
works. He was a man of great zeal and piety, and 
highly respected. 



THE FOUNDRESS OF A RELIGIOUS 
COMMUNITY. 

At the time when the two leaders of Methodism, 
Wesley and Whitefield, took adverse positions on 
points of theology — the former, zealous for what was 
termed the Arminian ; the latter, for the Calvinistic, 
mode of holding and proclaiming the one Christian 
truth, which gives all glory to God, and leaves 
human responsibility unimpunged ; Lady Hunting- 
don warmly professed her approval of Calvinistic 
doctrine, and gave the whole of her influence to that 
side of Methodism. Whitefield conscious of his want 
of ability to govern a community, wisely abstained 
from the attempt to found a denomination, and gave 
his powerful aid to his noble patroness in her wide- 
spread endeavours to maintain and spread Calvinistic 
Methodism. It was in this way that her ladyship 
became the head of what was termed " the Countess 
of Huntingdon's Connexion." This costly movement 
included the erection of many spacious churches, the 
support of ministers, and the founding and endowing 
of a college at Trevecca, in Wales, for the education 
of young men, who were left at liberty, when their 
studies were completed, to serve in the ministry of the 
gospel either in the Countess's Connexion, in the 
Established Church, or in any other of the Churches 
of Christ. In 1792, the college was removed from 
Trevecca to Cheshunt, where it still exists in a state 



HOLY WOMEN. 255 

of efficiency and usefulness . Her pecuniary resources 
were not large, yet she devoted upwards of £100,000 
towards the spread of evangelical religion. Although 
the term " Connexion" is still applied to the body, 
they do not exist in the form of a federal ecclesiastical 
union. The congregational form of Church govern- 
ment is practically in operation among them, and 
several of the congregations have joined that com- 
munion. 



CHARACTER OF THE COUNTESS OF 
HUNTINGDON. 

She was not what is usually termed beautiful, yet 
there was a grace and sweetness about her features 
which fully compensated for more perishable charms. 
Her figure was noble and commanding ; her eyes were 
large and lustrous ; her nose slightly acquiline ; her 
lips welJ-formed and expressive ; her forehead bold 
and intellectual. Her head-dress was plain and quite 
unfashionable ; her bonnet unpretending ; and her 
gown invariably black silk. 

Lady Huntingdon possessed great natural talents. 
This is vouched for, not so much by her letters as by 
her actual administrative performances, by what she 
did in governing so long a large association, and in 
directing and controlling the minds of many educated 
clergy and uneducated lay-preachers. The leading 
and most noted public men, such as Chesterfield, 
Bolingbroke, and several of the bishops, listened with 
enthusiasm to her conversation. The celebrated ladies 
who ruled the court, and drew the flower of the 
nobility to their feet, were powerfully influenced by 



256 MODEL WOMEN. 

her Ladyship. Her conversational powers were re- 
markable. There was scarcely a subject on which she 
could not talk with freedom. 

The Countess sympathised with human misery in all 
its forms, and to the utmost of her ability relieved it. 
Her nature was exceedingly generous. One of her 
ministers once called on her Ladyship with a wealthy 
person from the country. When they left, he ex- 
claimed, " What a lesson ! Can a person of her noble 
birth, nursed in the lap of grandeur, live in such a 
house, so meanly furnished ; and shall I, a tradesman, 
be surrounded with luxury and elegance ! From this 
moment, I shall hate my house, my furniture, and 
myself, for spending so little for God and so much in 
folly." Religion with her was not a creed, nor an 
ecclesiastical position, but a living power. She ad- 
mired consistency, and exemplified it in her life. It 
must not be supposed that she was perfect. She had 
her frailties, which she was aware of, and mourned 
over. But her private virtues and her public acts 
have ranked her among the most illustrious reformers 
of the Christian Church. 



HOLY WOMEN. 257 



SECTION II— ELIZABETH, DUCHESS OF 
GOBEON. 

" The Church of Christ has often been indebted to ladies in 
high station whose hearts the Lord touched, who devoted them- 
selves with singular ardour to the extension of His kingdom ; 
using the graciousness of their rank and breeding to strengthen 
His ministers, and win favour for His holy cause ; and who in so 
doing had a peculiar heavy cross of self-denial and reproach to 
bear. Had we lived in days when the gracious dead were 
canonized, and supposed to be helpful in heaven as they had been 
on earth, we should doubtless have had a Scottish Saint Elizabeth, 
in the last Duchess of Gordon." Andrew Ceichton. 



RELIGION IN HIGH LIFE. 

Cheistians have generally sprung from humble life. 
We love to see piety anywhere ; but the histories 
of those who have come from the ranks always 
lay deepest hold of the Christian mind. When the 
poor woman in the almshouse takes her bread and 
her water, and blesses God for both ; when the home- 
less wanderer, who has not where to lay her head, lifts 
her eye and says, "My Father will provide," it is 
like the glow-worm in the dark, leaving' a spark the 
more conspicuous because of the blackness around it. 
The evangelization of the poor is a sure sign of Christ's 
gospel. But let us rejoice, that though it hath been 
hitherto, we are afraid, incontestably the rule, that 
not many of the wise, mighty, and noble have been 
called, yet there have been many splendid exceptions. 
There have always been some Christians of noble 
birth and rank and wealth. Not only is the gospel 



258 MODEL WOMEN. 

translatable into every tongue, and suitable to all the 
varying phases of human intellect ; but it can descend 
to the lowliest cottages, and rise to the most gorgeous 
palaces and gild their very pinnacles with celestial 
light. Philosophy has wept at the recital of the story 
of the Cross ; wealth has offered its houses for the 
Saviour who had for His home the cold mountain wet 
with the evening dew ; science has cast her brightest 
crowns at the bleeding feet of Emmanuel; and art 
has entreated the rejected Redeemer to call her 
most fashionable temples His own. We could pro- 
duce a long catalogue of illustrious names to prove 
that religion can command the homage of genius, 
taste, and rank. The religion of Jesus is not the 
monopoly of the poor ; it is designed for those who are 
surrounded with objects which flatter their vanity, 
which minister to their pride, and which throw them 
into the circle of alluring and tempting pleasures. It 
places all on the same level in regard to salvation. 
There is no royal road to heaven. All are saved in 
the same way. In our own times there are not 
wanting some who have laid rank and wealth on the 
altar of God. 

BIOGRAPHY. 

Elizabeth Brodie, was born in London, on the 20th 
of June, 1794. There had been Brodies of Brodie 
for many generations. The most noted of her 
ancestors was her grandfather Alexander, commonly 
called Lord Brodie, who lived in the days of the 
Covenant, and was one of the judges of the Court of 
Session. Her father was Alexander Brodie ; who 



HOLY WOMEN. 259 

having acquired a large fortune in India, returned 
home, purchased the estates of Arnhall and the Burn, 
in Kincardineshire, and became member of parlia- 
ment for Elgin. Her grandmother was Lady Betty 
Wemyss, one of the Sutherland family; and her 
mother was Miss Elizabeth Wemyss, of Wemyss 
Castle, a grand- daughter of the Earl of Wemyss. Her 
progenitors were not only illustrious, but virtuous. 
Grace is not of blood, but of God ; yet in the heritage 
which the righteous leave to their children, a moral 
resemblance may often be traced even through inter- 
vening generations. 

The first six years of her life was spent at Leslie 
House, in Eifeshire, and were rendered memorable by 
the death of her mother. In what she called " her 
mother's box," were found reminiscences of that 
parent and of her own infant days. She stayed for 
some time with her maiden aunts at Elgin, which she 
always regarded with affection as the home of her 
early years. At the age of eight she was sent to a 
boarding-school in London. Here she had, with 
immense difficulty, to unlearn her native Scotch, and 
acquire a command of English words and English 
pronunciation. Her education was thorough in all 
the ordinary branches, and she was imbued with a 
taste for intellectual and scientific pursuits. Before 
seventeen, Miss Brodie came out into society at the 
Fife Hunt, in Cupar, with her cousin, the beautiful 
Miss Wemyss, afterwards Countess of Rosslyn. 

In the reign of the first Charles, Lord Lewis 
Gordon, afterwards Marquis of Huntly, rushed over 
the possessions of the gentle Lord Brodie, burnt his 
mansion and laid waste his lands. But in the times 

s2 



260 MODEL WOMEN. 

of the third George, another Marquis of Huntly came 
to Brodie on a different errand. The Rev. A. Moody- 
Stuart pleasantly says, " Unlike his wayward ancestor, 
he ran no warlike raid through the plains of Moray, 
and brought back no forcefuj prey to adorn his castle 
at Huntly. But the gallant soldier made a better 
conquest. In the ever strange circling of events he 
sought and won the hand of the young and beautiful 
Elizabeth Brodie, and conducted his bride with festive 
rejoicings to his home in Strathbogie. There she 
shone a far nobler treasure than the spoil of her 
father's house ; for in due time she was called to 
inherit the untold riches of that Father's grace, and 
so to shed a brighter lustre on the coronet of Gordon 
than it had ever worn before, illuminating it with a 
heavenly radiance ere it was buried in her tomb." At 
the age of nineteen, the Marquis of Huntly was Miss 
Brodie's accepted suitor, and on the 11th of December, 
1813, they were married at Bath. Her husband, as 
colonel of the 92nd, or Gordon Highlanders, had seen 
hard service, and could show his wounds. They had 
one great trial in common to bear: their childless 
wedlock sealed the fate of the house of Gordon. After 
their marriage they went abroad- On the 16th of 
June, 1815, they drew near Brussels, ignorant of 
what was happening in the immediate neighbourhood. 
The Duchess of Richmond had given her famous 
ball, and now all was confusion and dismay. Troubled 
minds were set at rest by the British squares at 
Waterloo. 

The Marchioness of Huntly spent the first few years 
of her married life, in much the same way as ladies 
of her rank generally do. She drank freely of the 



HOLY WOMEN. 261 

pleasures of the world, and God was not in all her 
thoughts. In the autumn of 1815, she returned to 
Scotland, and Lord Huntly determined to give her a 
festive reception on her coming home to Strathbogie ; 
and because the winter was not suitable, he deferred 
it till her birthday in June. The place of meeting 
was the castle park ; the people danced on the green- 
sward, and Lady Huntly distributed small silver coins 
to the children with that large-hearted love for the 
young so remarkable in her after career. She took 
still greater pleasure in a festive tour which followed 
a few years after. On this occasion the spirit of the 
old highland clanship was revived; fiery crosses 
blazed from hill to hill ; and Lady Huntly passed in 
true Celtic style over the Gordon estates, receiving 
the homage of her vassals. In 1819, Lord Huntly 
resolved to give a highland welcome worthy of his 
rank, to Prince Leopold, at the beautiful lodge of 
Kinrara. With the ardent loyalty of the highlands, 
the clansmen held themselves ready to honour their 
own chief and to welcome his royal guest. With his 
highland bonnet, and kilted in the dark tartan of 
his clan, Huntly invited the prince to ascend the 
hill of Tor Alvie, which commanded a fine view of 
the lofty mountains, and the noble Spey. There they 
found the marchioness and her party waiting to 
receive them. But the tartaned highlanders were 
nowhere to be seen. Their chieftain stood with eagle 
plume : — 

" But they with mantles folded round 
Were crouched to rest upon the ground, 
Scarce to be known by curious eye 
From the deep heather where they lie ; 



262 MODEL WOMEN. 

So well was matched the tartan screen 
With heath-bell dark, and brackens green. 
The mountaineer then whistled shrill, 
And he was answered from the hill ; 
Instant through copse and heath arose 
Bonnets and spears and bended bows. 
And every tuft of broom gave life 
To plaided warrior armed for strife ; 
Watching their leader's beck and will, 
All silent there they stood, and still. 
Short space he stood, then raised his hand 
To his brave clansmen's eager band ; 
Then Shout of Welcome, shrill and wide, 
Shook the steep mountain's steady side. 
Thrice it arose, and brake and fell 
Three times gave back the martial yell." 

"Ah," exclaimed the Prince, surprised and de- 
lighted, " we've got Roderick Dhu here ! " 

In the summer of 1827, the old Duke died, and the 
Marquis and Marchioness of Huntly became the 
Duke and Duchess of Gordon. The hereditary in- 
fluence of the Gordon family in other days was scarcely 
less than regal in the north of Scotland ; and even at 
the time to which we refer, retained a strong element 
of clanship added to that of wealth and rank. Amidst 
the enthusiastic rejoicings of the numerous tenantry, 
the Duke and Duchess took possession of the noble 
castle. It had been called a "castle of felicity," and 
nothing was wanting to make it so, if the good things 
of this life could satisfy the soul. The Duchess had 
learned how poor earth's highest joys are in them- 
selves. She therefore identified herself more with 
the people and cause of Christ. No balls were given 
at Gordon Castle during the nine years she was its 
mistress. In May, 1830, William IV. came to the 



HOLY WOMEN. 263 

throne, and his queen, the sainted Adelaide, selected 
the Duchess of Gordon as Mistress of the Robes at the 
coronation, and honoured her ever afterwards with her 
special friendship. This was a strong temptation to 
return to the world, and become a leader of fashion ; 
but into the court, as into the ducal palace, she carried 
a simple, fervent exhibition of Christian principle. 
Most of her time, however, was spent at Gordon 
Castle, where she presided with queenly grace over 
the numerous and noble company always sure to be 
there. All things were ordered according to her own 
high spiritual ideal. 

In May, 1836, George, last Duke of Gordon, was 
suddenly taken from her side in London. The blow 
was heavy, but her sorrow was assuaged by the assur- 
ance that he slept in Jesus. So little was his death 
expected, that the Duchess had turned an ugly quarry 
into a beautiful garden, and was looking forward to 
the pleasure of driving her invalid husband thither, 
and winning a smile from his sick and weary face. 
But alas ! he was carried past her blooming paradise 
in his coffin. 

The first year of the Duchess' widowhood was spent 
on the Continent ; after which she returned to Huntly 
Lodge, where she had spent her married youth. It 
now became a serious question how far she should 
continue to maintain the stvle and Irving' of a Duchess. 
To have lived on a thousand a year instead often 
thousand would have saved her from many tempt- 
ations, and spared her much money for the Church's 
treasury. But having been numbered by the Lord 
in the rank of the" not many noble " that are called, 
she decided to abide therein with God. We think 



264 MODEL WOMEN. 

she was right. The light that shines through the cot- 
tage window will cheer and guide the lonely wanderer 
who happens to come within its narrow range ; but 
the lamp on the lighthouse is seen far and wide, 
and directs thousands to the sheltering harbour. 

The Scotch are a devout and fervent people. But 
in some localities the inhabitants were religious only 
in name. Strathbogie was chequered by bright lights 
and dark shadows — the latter, alas ! by far the more 
numerous. The ministers preached that it was good 
to be good, bad to be bad, and wise to eschew fanati- 
cism ; and the communicants deemed family worship 
an excellent thing in the stanzas of the " Cottar's 
Saturday Night." In answer to prayer, mighty apos- 
tles visited the dark land. With every movement which 
seemed to bring life to the spiritually dead district, the 
Duchess identified herself; and, therefore, although 
she did not till long afterwards sympathise with the 
position taken up by the party headed by Dr. Chalmers, 
she opened her house to him and the other eminent 
men who came to preach the gospel in Strathbogie. 

In 1847, after a severe struggle, she became a 
member of the Free Church of Scotland ; and in 
August partook of the Lord's supper for the first 
time along with the people at Huntly, as a member of 
their own communion. Chiefly through her instru- 
mentality the popular mind suddenly awoke to the 
importance of religion; clergymen became deeply 
fervent, and the morals of a large portion of the 
people rose at once to the high Christian level. In 
1859, a young man who had been long halting be- 
tween two opinions, was overheard disputing in a byre 
with an old self-righteous man, and saying, "Na, na 



HOLY WOMEN. 265 

that'll no do ; if ye dinna get Christ first, ye can do 
naething." 

The end is soon told. She spent the winter of 
1862-3 in London. A conference of ministers was 
held at Hnntly Lodge on the 13th of January, 1864, 
and another was appointed for the 10th of February ; 
but between those dates the unexpected summons of 
death arrived. She fell asleep at half-past seven on 
Sabbath evening, the 31st of January, in her seven- 
tieth year. 

On the 9th of February her Grace was buried. 
The spectacle was deeply affecting as the procession 
passed through Huntly ; and in the midst of deep 
silence, respect, and universal regard, the corpse was 
carried through Elgin to the vault of the noble Dukes 
of Gordon. The coffin was placed beside her hus- 
band's, in the only remaining space for the deceased 
wearers of the ducal coronet and their children. Till 
the last trumpet shall sound, that tomb shall remain 
closed on the last and the best of an illustrious race. 



NEW LIFE. 

In 1821, the Marchioness of Huntly began to feel 
anxious about her soul. God can break the hardest 
rock with the feeblest rod, and from the mouth of a 
babe ordain strength. A highland servant whom the 
Duchess Jane had left at Kinrara, with all reverence 
for the chieftain's lady, ventured to drop a quiet re- 
mark which sank into her heart and was never alto- 
gether forgotten. Lady Huntly was discovered in 
the act of reading the Bible by one of the leaders of 
aristocratic gaiety, and the incident was declared to 



266 MODEL WOMEN. 

be the best joke they had heard of for many a day. 
They thought, however, that a little clever quizzing 
would soon make her return to her old ways. But 
they were mistaken ! They called her " Methodist," 
and she said within herself, " If for so little I am 
called a Methodist, let me have something more worthy 
of the name ; " and set herself to read the Bible still 
more earnestly. In her new course of Bible reading she 
came to the passage, " If ye, being evil, know how to 
give good gifts unto your children, how much more 
shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to 
them that ask Him ? " The words arrested her, and 
from that time she began to pray for the Holy Spirit. 
In 1822, she accompanied Lord Huntly to Geneva, and 
there found an enlightened friend in Madame Vernet, 
whom she afterwards looked upon as her spiritual 
mother. From Geneva she went to Paris, and, while 
travelling, read Erskine's "Internal Evidences," which 
she found very profitable to her soul. In Paris she 
found counsel and help in the house of Lady Olivia 
Sparrow ; and at length, during a visit at Kimbolton 
Castle, the residence of the Duke of Manchester, she 
was brought to believe savingly on the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

DEEPENING OF THE LORD'S WORK 

The commencement of the year 1827 forms an 
epoch in the spiritual history of Lady Huntly. She 
and her husband were on the Continent with two 
nieces, when one of them died suddenly at Naples. 
The bereavement was keenly felt, but greatly sancti- 
fied. Abo at this time she read Leighton on Peter, 



HOLY WOMEN. 267 

to which she attributed a great deepening of the 
work of grace ; and she afterwards wrote — " Pray 
keep Leighton for my sake, for I have a particular 
value for that copy. I truly rejoice to find that you 
can read Leighton with pleasure. I know by experi- 
ence it is a test of the state of the mind." 

When placed in a situation which required the 
heart to be hot like a furnace, and the lip to be burn- 
ing like a live coal, she found that grace was pro 
portioned to duty. To the first period of her Christian 
life she thus refers : " In my own case, I believe that 
for two years I was a saved sinner, a believer in the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and yet that during all that time 
I did not see the exceeding sinfulness of sin. I believed 
in a general way that I was a sinner who deserved the 
punishment of a righteous God ; I believed that who- 
soever came to Jesus Christ should be saved ; but I 
had no deep sense of sin, — of my sin. Since then, I 
believe I have passed through almost every phase of 
Christian experience that I have ever read or heard 
of ; and now I have such a sense of my utter vileness 
and unworthiness, that I feel that the great and holy 
God might well set His heel on me, so to speak, and 
crush me into nothing. " So marked was the growth of 
grace at this time that she used to talk of it as a second 
conversion. For several years she had apprehended 
Christ as her title to heaven ; but she now saw that 
He was also her meetness for heaven, and was filled 
with peace and joy. 

At her departure from Huntly Lodge, to Gordon 
Castle, she received what we must call a token from 
God. With some other ladies, she paid a visit to the 
old castle at Huntly, on the banks of the Deveron, 



268 MODEL WOMEN. 

and within the fair demesne which she was to leave for 
a time. In an ancient hall, with carved escutcheons 
on its walls, they were attracted by an inscription on 
a scroll high above them, which neither the Duchess 
nor her visitors could decipher. They moved on, but 
she remained gazing at the carved figures. Suddenly 
the sun burst out from behind a cloud, and she read 
in the light of its rays these words : 

TO . THAES . THAT . LOVE . GOD . AL . THINGIS . VIRKIS . 
TO . THE . BEST . 

It was as if a voice from heaven had spoken. She 
had gotten a motto for her future life ; and ever after, 
Romans viii. 28, was ;one of the pillars that upheld 
the temple of God in her heart — one of the elements 
that leavened her spiritual life. 

OPEN-AIR SERVICES. 

On the Saturday before her first communion, as a 
Presbyterian, it was evident that the church would be 
too small on the following Lord's- day. The Duchess 
therefore immediately placed the broad green area of 
what had been the old castle court at the service of 
the congregation. A naval captain with two or three 
visitors set up some military tents, and the ancient 
fortress was turned into a temple. The soldiers' 
tents, with their white canvas and scarlet mountings, 
had a very picturesque appearance. On the Sabbath 
morning a large congregation assembled under the 
blue vault of heaven. 

" Then did we worship in that fane 

By God to mankind given ; 
Whose lamp is the meridian sun, 

And all the stars of heaven. 



HOLY WOMEN. 269 

" Whose roof is the cerulean sky ; 
Whose floor the earth so fair ; 
Whose walls are yast immensity : 
All nature worships there." 

Before the close of that service more than one was 
constrained to say, " God, who commanded the light 
to shine ont of darkness, hath shined into onr hearts, 
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God 
in the face of Jesus Christ." In 1859, she wrote in 
reference to evangelistic efforts : <; There were eight 
thousand tracts given away at the feeing-market 
yesterday." In the summer of 1860, many thousands 
assembled in the castle park, at the invitation of the 
Duchess, to listen to the silver trumpet of the gospel 
sounding the year of jubilee. Similar gatherings were 
held during the three following years. On some of 
these occasions it was computed that seven thousand 
persons were present ; on others, ten thousand. The 
Lord's people were refreshed, and many careless ones 
were awakened. In 1863, the Duchess writes : " I 
cannot but wonder to see the meetings increasing in 
numbers and interest every year ; not as a rendezvous 
for a pleasant day in the country, but really very 
solemn meetings, where the presence of the Lord is 
felt and the power of His Spirit manifested." Clergy- 
men of a certain school may sneer at lay evangelists ; 
she could not join them in their sneers. It may be 
that these men are not always prudent — that their 
zeal sometimes outruns their discretion. Well, what 
then? Would we have the sentinel to walk with 
measured military step, who is on his way to trample 
out the lighted match which has been set to a train of 
gunpowder ? If not human lives, are human souls to 



270 MODEL WOMEN. 

be sacrificed to tlie martinetism of the excessively 
prudent ? If we are to contend against a thing 
merely because of its abuse, then all preaching must 
come to an end, clerical as well as lay. 

GOOD WORKS. 

A firm believer in the doctrine of a free salvation 
through the mercy of God and the merits of Christ 
the Duchess of Gordon ever echoed the exhortation 
of the apostle, " Be careful to maintain good works." 
So far from holding good works cheap, she believed 
that by them God was glorified, and by them on the 
great day she would be judged. " The tree is known 
by its fruit." " Every tree which bringeth not forth 
good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire." At 
Gordon Castle a room was fitted up as a little chapel 
for morning and family prayers, and where, aided by 
the tones of an organ, the Sabbath evenings might be 
rendered profitable to the visitors. She had always 
some benevolent scheme on hand, but was frequently 
hampered as to the means. When anxious to build a 
chapel and infant school, she took a gold vase worth 
£1200 to London in the hope of getting it sold. 
But as she had difficulty in finding a purchaser, she 
writes, " The Duchess of Beaufort, hearing of my 
vase, thought of her diamond ear-rings, which she 
got me to dispose of for a chapel in Wales, and her 
diamonds made me think of my jewels ; and as the 
Duke has always been most anxious for the chapel, 
he agreed with me that stones were much prettier in 
a chapel wall than round one's neck ; and so he 
allowed me to sell £600 worth, or rather, what 



HOLY WOMEN. 271 

brought that, for they cost more than double." The 
Sabbath was pre-eminently honoured. No departures 
or arrivals took place on that day. To those who 
think that the gratuitous and instant forgiveness of 
the gospel must be fatal to future obedience, it might 
be sufficient to remark, that the noblest patterns of 
piety, and the most finished specimens of personal 
worth, are those who counted their own excellence 
the merest dross, and yet felt assured that for 
another's sake they were precious in God's sight. 
But the gospel itself assures us that the faith which 
receives the Saviour is the first step of new obedience 
— that it is only when God's righteousness is accepted, 
that morality begins. 

CHARACTER OF THE DUCHESS OF GORDON. 

From the pages of her accomplished biographer, 
we learn that in her youth she had a robust physical 
frame ; and H. P. Willis, Esq., the American traveller, 
tells us, that she was a tall and very handsome 
woman, with a smile of the most winning sweetness. 
Peculiarly attractive in her manner, her expression, 
which in old age was quite heavenly, so lighted up all 
her features as to convey the impression that she 
must have been very beautiful when young. But it 
was not her handsome features which called forth ad- 
miration so much, as her tall and graceful form, 
added to which was a countenance beautified by in- 
telligence and life and winning gentleness. 

Her intellect was as vigorous as her body was 
robust. She availed herself of the power of invigor- 
ating her mental faculties, of acquiring knowledge 



272 MODEL WOMEN. 

from experience, of pursuing knowledge for its own 
sake, of deriving knowledge from the past, and of 
rendering the possession of knowledge an enjoyment. 
Thus she wanted less than most girls a mother's arm 
to lean upon ; and needed less than most wives a hus- 
band's intellect to guide. She seems to have arrived 
at her conclusions slowly ; but having arrived at them, 
she held them firmly. 

Kind words and good deeds will be legible, when 
sculptured inscriptions are illegible. These speak 
when the granite and the marble are silent. The 
benevolence of the Duchess was world-wide. Perhaps 
her lavish hospitality was sometimes taken advantage 
of ; but the keenest cavillers must admit that her own 
eye and heart were single. Her aim seemed to be to 
convince her guests that the house and all that was 
in it was their own. The day after the funeral, an 
aged man, with moistened eyes made these remarks . 
" This is the greatest calamity that ever befel this 
district ; of a' the Dukes that ever reigned here, there 
was never one like her ; there's nane in this neighbour- 
hood, high or low, but was under some obligation to 
her ; for she made it her study to benefit her fellow- 
men ; and what crowds o' puir craturs she helped 
every day ! " A soldier who had been in the Crimea, 
said : " You know that I have seen much to render 
my heart callous, but I never was unmanned till now; 
I never knew before how tenderly I Joved that 
honoured lady." She had a strong feeling of nation- 
ality, and a great love for everything Scotch, such as 
the Jacobite songs. But when she received new life, 
these were exchanged for the songs of Zion. Her 
spirit was most catholic, and she longed to see con- 



HOLY WOMEN. 273 

fhcting sentiments blended into brotherhood, and to 
hear the grand text repeated throughout all lands : 
" There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither bond nor 
free, there is neither male nor female : for ye are all 
one in Christ Jesus." 






SECTION in.— MARY JANE GRAHAM. 

Her pursuits were only valuable in proportion as they were 
consecrated. In everything ' to her to live was Christ.' Nothing 
else seemed worthy of the name of Christ." 

Rev. Charles Bridges, M.A. 



PIETY AND CIRCUMSTANCE. 

In dealing with many who avow themselves un- 
believers in Christianity, we not unfrequently meet 
with an objection by the help of which they attempt- 
to construct an argument against our religion. The 
tendencies of the mind we are told, are entirely de- 
pendent on the development of the brain, and the 
external influences operating upon these, make up 
together the sum of the influences concerned in the 
production of the faiths of the world. These sceptical 
reason ers tell us that it is just as irrational to expect 
Christianity to spring up in the universal mind, as to 
expect to paint the whole globe with one particular 
flower. The soil has laws which determine its pro- 
ducts; and the mind has laws which determine its 
beliefs. How shall we meet this ? We might deny 
that the faith that worketh by love, purifieth the heart, 

T 



274 MODEL WOMEN. 

and overcometh the world, is the product of sugges- 
tion, which is multiform; and assert it to be the 
judgment of reason, which is one and the same over 
all the world, in every mind and age. But we prefer 
appealing to the practical refutation afforded us by 
experience. It is a fact that our Christian religion 
has already traversed the globe, rooting itself in every 
soil, and bearing fruit in every climate. When civiliza- 
tion has done her utmost, Christianity can out-dazzle 
her sublimest triumphs. In the clime where philo- 
sophy holds court with refinement — where poor vul- 
garity cannot breathe, we challenge the world to point 
out a single instance in which the gospel was unable 
to accommodate itself to the peculiar requirements of 
the people. What has been its effects in the land of 
terror, upon the savagest of human beings. It has 
lifted the cannibal from his pool of blood, and led him 
like a little child to the altar of consecration. The 
door of the world has been thrown open, and the 
Lord's servants have been commanded to enter in. 
India has been made accessible to the missionaries of 
every Church. The gospel is advancing rapidly among 
the teeming millions of the celestial empire. In Africa, 
degraded Fingoes, stupid Hottentots, and warlike 
Kaffirs, have had their understandings enlightened^ 
and their hearts softened, by Divine truth and grace. 

" Sound the timbrel, strike the lyre, 
Wake the trumpet's blast of fire !" 

for piety is independent of circumstance. 



HOLY WOMEN. 275 



BIOGRAPHY. 



Mary Jane Graham, was born in London, on the 
11th of April, 1803, where her father was engaged in 
a respectable business. She was the subject of early 
religious convictions. At the age of seven, her habits 
of secret prayer evidenced the influence of Divine 
grace upon her soul. During the greater part of her 
childhood, and the commencement of her riper years, 
she was enabled to walk with God in sincerity, and 
without any considerable declension. 

Her school career began before she was eight years 
old. She was, however, shortly removed, because of 
ill health, and when about the age of ten was sent to 
a different kind of school. As far as it was lawful she 
always screened the faults of her companions, and 
was every ready and willing to plead for them when 
in disgrace ; and so powerful was her advocacy, that 
her preceptress was constrained to remove out of her 
way when her judgment compelled her to persevere 
in her discipline. 

At the age of twelve her delicate health again oc- 
casioned her removal from school. Her illness lasted 
about two months, and during that time, when con- 
fined upon a sofa, she committed to memory the whole 
Book of Psalms. She was delighted with Milton's 
"Paradise Lost," and for many successive mornings 
repeated three hundred lines. After her recovery she 
spent several months by the seaside. About the age 
of sixteen she was brought to the ordinance of con- 
firmation, and publicly joined herself to the Lord in a 
perpetual covenant never to be broken. 

About the age of seventeen, Miss Graham fell, for a 

t2 



276 MODEL WOMEN. 

few months, from the heavenly atmosphere of com- 
munion with God, into the dark and dismal shades of 
infidelity. The metaphysical structure of her mind, 
combined with a defective apprehension of her sad 
state by nature, induced a spirit of self-dependence ; 
which led to backsliding from God. In the frivolities 
of the world she sought in vain for that priceless boon, 
a quiet conscience. Wearied at length, she turned to 
religion for comfort, but found that she had no re- 
ligion ; she had refused to give glory to God, and now 
her feet were stumbling upon the dark mountains. 
The Divinity of Christ had often been to her an oc- 
casion of perplexity. Repeated examination had fully 
convinced her that it was a scriptural doctrine ; yet 
so repulsive was it to her proud heart, that she was 
led from thence to doubt the truth of the Bible itself. 
After a few months' conflict, she was brought, to the 
light and liberty of truth, and the once abhorred 
doctrine became exceedingly precious. " From that 
time," to use her own words, " I have continued to 
sit at the feet of Jesus, and to hear His word, taking 
Him for my teacher and guide, in things temporal as 
well as spiritual." 

Miss Graham continued to reside in London, and 
to devote herself more unreservedly to various studies 
and active labours in the service of God her Saviour. 
During her residence in the metropolis, the ministry 
of the Rev. Watts Wilkinson, and a deep study of the 
sacred volume, were the means of advancing her know- 
ledge and experience of scriptural truth. Adorned by 
God with high intellect, which she cultivated with 
care, and sanctified for her Master's service, she 
thirsted for knowledge, and relished its acquisition 



HOLY WOMEN. 277 

with, peculiar delight. She wrote a treatise on the 
intellectual, moral, and religious uses of mathe- 
matical science, which abounds with wise and judi- 
cious observations on the objects and motives of the 
worldly and Christian student. 

But her studies were not confined to the severer 
branches of knowledge. In some of her more lively 
exercises of mind she took up the subject of chemistry. 
She wrote a short but accurate development of the 
principles of music. Botany also attracted her atten- 
tion. She had prosecuted, as one of her chiefest studies, 
the noble literature and tongue of Britain. The best 
writers on the philosophy of mind were familiar to 
her. With the principles of Locke she was thoroughly 
acquainted. She had profited much by Stewart. 
" Butler's Analogy" was also upon her first shelf. She 
had cultivated an acquaintance with the classics of 
ancient Greece and Borne, and was perfectly familiar 
with the French, Italian, and Spanish languages. In 
order to improve herself in the knowledge of the 
languages, she made considerable use of them in 
mutual correspondence with her young friends. 

Her peculiar singleness of aim stimulated her to 
apply her literary acquisitions to valuable practical 
purposes. The discovery of a strong tincture of in- 
fidelity among the Spanish refugees, combined with 
the recollection of her own fall, excited a compas- 
sionate, earnest, and sympathetic concern on their 
behalf. The following extract from a letter written 
in September, 1825, gives a touching view of her 
feelings towards these unhappy men. " I have read one 
part of ' Las Ruinas,' and in reading it I was struck 
with the reflection that the best answer would be a 



278 MODEL WOMEN, 

continual reference to the word of God. I thought 
therefore of placing my observations on the blank 
pages, and of filling the margin of the printed paper 
with references. I beseech you to pray, that if I be 
not a fit instrument for the conversion of the souls of 
these poor Spanish exiles, the Holy Spirit would be 
pleased to raise up some other.' ' 

Upon her removal from London to Stoke Fleming, 
near Dartmouth, Devon, which took place in conse- 
quence of protracted indisposition ; her energies were 
still employed in the service of her Redeemer, and of 
His Church. During the first summer of her country 
residence, she regularly attended the parish work- 
house at seven o'clock, to explain the Scriptures to 
the poor previous to the commencement of their daily 
labour. The children of the parish were the objects 
of her constant solicitude. She drew out questions 
upon the parables and miracles as helps for Sunday- 
school teachers ; and, when prevented by illness from 
attending the school, she assembled the children at 
her own house for instruction. The young women 
also in the parish occupied a large share of her 
anxious thoughts, and she appropriated a separate 
evening for their instruction. She was a constant 
cottage visitor. The following passage from her 
mathematical manuscript is beautiful, and shows 
clearly the high and consecrated spirit with which 
she connected this humble ministration with her 
intellectual pleasures. " Do you ever experience this 
proud internal consciousness of superior genius or 
learning ? God has placed a ready antidote within 
your reach. The abode of learned leisure is seldom 
far from the humble dwelling of some unlettered 



HOLY WOMEN. 279 

Christian. Thither let your steps be directed. ' Take 
sweet counsel ' with your poor uneducated brother. 
There you will find the man, whom our ' King de- 
lighteth to honour.' His mean chamber, graced with 
one well-worn book, is as ' the house of God, and the 
very gate of heaven.' Observe how far the very 
simplicity of his faith, and the fervour of his love, 
exceed anything you can find in your own experience, 
cankered as it is with intellectual pride. God has 
taught him many lessons, of which all your learning 
has left you ignorant. Make him your instructor in 
spiritual things. He is a stranger to the names of 
your favourite poets and orators ; but he is very 
familiar with the sweet psalmist of Israel. He can 
give you rich portions of the eloquence of one who 
'spake as never man spake.' He can neither 'tell 
you the number of the stars, nor call them by their 
names; but he will discourse excellently concern- 
ing the Star of Bethlehem. He is unable to attempt 
the solution of a difficult problem ; but he can enter 
into some of those deep things of God's law, which to 
an unhumbled heart are dark and mysterious. He 
will not talk to you ' in words which man's wisdom 
teacheth ; ' but oh ! what sweet and simple expressions 
of Divine love are those i which the Holy Ghost has 
taught him ' ! He ' knows nothing but Christ cruci- 
fied ; ' but this is the excellent knowledge, to which 
all other knowledge is foolishness. He has ' the fear 
of the Lord ; that is wisdom. He departs from evil ; 
that is understanding.' When your soul is refreshed 
by this simple and lovely communion with one of the 
meanest of God's saints, return to your learned retire- 
ment. Look over your intellectual possessions. 



280 MODEL WOMEN. 

Choose out the brightest jewel in your literary 
cabinet. Place it by the side of ' the meek and quiet 
spirit ' of this obscure Christian. Determine which is 
the ornament of greater price. Compare the boasted 
treasures of your mind with the spiritual riches of 
your illiterate brother. Run over the whole cata- 
logue. Let not one be omitted ; the depth of your 
understanding and the strength of' your reasonings, 
the brilliancy of your fancy, the fire of your eloquence. 
Be proud of them. Grlory in them. You cannot. 
They dwindle into insignificance." 

About a year after her settlement in Devon, she 
became a decided invalid, and except in the year 1827, 
she never moved beyond the garden, and only two or 
three times ventured into the outward air. For the 
last two years she was entirely confined to her room, 
and unable to be dressed. During the whole of that 
period she was watched over by her mother, and sur- 
rounded by books. Her beloved Bible was always 
under her pillow, the first thing in her hand in the morn- 
ing and the last at night. For a short time before her 
death, the enemy was permitted to harass her soul, 
and her lively apprehensions of the gospel were oc- 
casionally obscured. Her bodily sufferings were 
most severe, arising from a complication of diseases. 
Life terminated at last by a rapid mortification in one 
of her legs. The last words she was heard to utter, 
were : "I am come into deep waters ; God, my 
rock. Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe." 
The next morning, Friday, December 10th, 1830, 
without a sign or struggle, she entered into her eter- 
nal rest. Her lungs, which had been supposed to 
be sound, were discovered after death to have been 



HOLY WOMEN. 281 

fatally diseased. Her heart also was found to be 
enlarged. 

Thus upheld by the good hope of the gospel, this 
blessed sufferer, ransomed sinner, and victorious be- 
liever, fell asleep in the arms of her Saviour and her 
God. With hearts clad in the habiliments of sorrow, 
relatives and friends followed all that could die of 
Miss Graham to the lonely graveyard. The Christian 
has always a garden around the sepulchre. To such 
death is not the penalty of sin, but the gracious sum- 
mons of the Saviour — the introduction to that world 
where the pure earth, unsmitten by a curse, shall 
never be broken for a grave. 

THE GREAT GRANGE. 

From her own history we learn that Miss Graham 
was converted to God when only seven years old. 
Tet it must be admitted that instability marked her 
early course in the ways of religion. The general tone, 
however, of her spiritual feeling manifested the habit- 
ual operation of a high measure of Divine influence ; 
while her occasional depressions seem not to have 
sunk her below the ordinary level, and were doubtless 
connected with those exercises of humiliation de- 
scribed in her correspondence which will find an echo 
in the hearts of all generous Christians. A deep sense 
of her own unworthiness was a prominent feature of 
her life. In all her natural loveliness, with all her 
gentle and amiable attractions, she lay down before 
God profoundly in the dust, and poured out from the 
very bottom of her heart the often repeated cry, " God 
be merciful to me a sinner." The Holy Spirit had 



282 MODEL WOMEN. 

taught her, that the Searcher of hearts sees guilt in the 
fairest characters ; and that to be saved she must be 
Divinely renewed, and to see the kingdom of God she 
must be born again. While Miss Graham was, in the 
estimation of her parents and of all the members of 
the household, all that their hearts could wish, she 
felt her need of an entire and implicit dependence on 
Jesus Christ for salvation. She was also deeply anx- 
ious to bring others to the Saviour, that His Cross might 
be covered with trophies, and His crown blaze with 
jewels. If she heard of any that were awakened to a 
sense of their state and condition in the sight of God, 
it was always with great delight. Often has she been 
known on such occasions to shed tears of joy. 
While her love for the ministers and ordinances of 
God are worthy of special remark, we must not forget 
to mention her love to the brethren — these are con- 
scious and unequivocal marks of vital Christianity. 

THEOLOGICAL ATTAINMENTS. 

The fine, powerful, and spiritual mind of Miss 
Graham, is abundantly illustrated in her writings and 
correspondence. For sound divinity, clear reasoning, 
and fervent piety, there is probably no book in the 
English language superior to her " Test of Truth." 
Scott's "Force of Truth/ ' though a valuable work, 
will bear no comparison with it. In a posthumous 
work, " The Preeness and Sovereignty of God's 
Justifying and Electing Grace," she furnishes us with 
a full, clear, and scriptural statement on the humbling 
doctrine of original sin. "It is the very first lesson 
in the school of Christ : and it is only by being well 
rooted and grounded in these first principles that we 



HOLY WOMEN. 283 

can hope to go on to perfection. The doctrine is 
written in Scripture as with a sunbeam. If we do not 
feel some conviction of it in our own hearts, it affords 
a sad proof that we still belong to that ' generation 
that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed 
from their filthiness.' " After adducing most convinc- 
ing Scriptural evidence, she forcibly illustrates the 
subject by the case of infants, and appeals to the sacred 
records of Christian experience. To the doctrine of the 
total depravity of man, she thus applies the reduciio 
ad absurdum method of proof: " If man be not utterly 
depraved, he must be in one of these two states — 
either perfectly good, without any mixture of sin ; or 
good, with some mixture of evil and imperfection. 
The first of these suppositions carries its own absurd- 
ity upon the face of it. The second is plausible, and 
more generally received. Yet it is not difficult to 
prove, that if man had any remaining good in him, 
that is — towards God — he could not be the creature 
he now is. There could not be that carelessness about 
his eternal welfare, that deadness to spiritual things, 
which we perceive in every individual whose heart 
has not been renewed by Divine grace." Thus she 
finds that the doctrine of man's partial depravity in- 
volves absurd consequences — conclusions wholly at 
variance with fact. The utter helplessness of man 
she adduced with great clearness and power, to prove 
that the work of grace is all of God. Then having 
proven her statement by Scripture, she proceeds to 
exhibit in connection with it, the perfect freeness of 
Divine grace. Miss Graham must not be confounded 
with those exclusive writers who address the free in- 
vitations of the gospel to the elect only. The freeness 



284 MODEL WOMEN. 

of Divine mercy — not the secret decree of the Divine 
will — was the ground and rule of her procedure. 

On subjects of theological discussion she is as much 
at home as on the great doctrines of the gospel. 
She thus concludes a discussion on the consistency of 
conditional promises with free salvation : "The great 
question then about the promises seems to be, not so 
much whether they are conditional, as whether God 
looks to Christ, or us, for the performance of those 
conditions. If to Christ, the burden is laid upon one 
that is mighty : if to us, then we are undone : ' for 
the condition of man after the fall is such, that he 
cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural 
strength and good works.' " This is strong and un- 
compromising ; yet it is neither unguarded, un- 
scriptural, nor discouraging. Her views of the per- 
sonality of the Holy Spirit were remarkably clear. 
She was accustomed, as her "Prayer before Study," 
plainly proves, to address Him in direct, and probably 
frequent supplication. In reference to the deceitful 
and superficial arguments of infidelity, she observes, 
" Let us disentangle the artful confusion of words and 
ideas. Let us set apart each argument for separate 
and minute scrutiny. Let us analyse the boasted 
reasonings of the infidel philosophy. We shall find 
that they may be classed under two heads : assertions 
which are true, but no way to the purpose ; and 
assertions which are to the purpose, but they are not 
true." Her remarks upon the millennium are interest- 
ing, but to attempt an analysis of these views, is 
foreign to our purpose. 

On the way of salvation, Miss Graham's corres- 
pondence is highly interesting and instructive. It is 



HOLY WOMEN. 285 

delightful to observe in all her letters, not only ex- 
tensive and accurate views of science and sound 
theological opinions, but unostentatious piety, glowing 
love to the Saviour, and a tender, earnest longing for 
the salvation of souls. ISTo service is more valuable 
to the sincere but intelligent inquirer, than to enter 
into his case with tenderness and forbearance. In 
these letters there are no vague and ill- defined direc- 
tions — no deficiency of spiritual understanding. They 
are rich in evangelical sentiment. Pardoning grace 
is proclaimed to the guilty; melting and subduing 
grace to the hard-hearted ; and sanctifying grace to 
the unholy ; grace to live and grace to die. 

PRACTICAL RELIGION. 

It is a truth endorsed by universal Christendom, 
that the more we are disentangled from speculative 
inquiries, and occupied in the pursuit of practical 
realities, the more settled will be our conviction of 
the geniuneness of the testimony, and our consequent 
enjoyment of its privileges. Miss Graham was 
naturally open to the temptation of a cavilling spirit. 
She was prone to begin with the speculative instead 
of the practical truths of revelation, and to insist 
upon a solution of its difficulties as a prerequisite to 
the acknowledgment of its authority, and personal 
application of its truths. To this we trace her painful, 
though temporary apostasy. The following passage, 
written about two months before her death, gives an 
interesting view of her own search after truth, and 
indicates a practical apprehension of the gospel : " I 
am grieved that you should for a moment imagine 



286 MODEL WOMEN. 

that I think our dear must be lost, because she 

does not subscribe to the doctrines of Calvin. I 
do not so much as know what all Calvin's doctrines 
are, or whether I should subscribe to them myself. I 
have read one book of Calvin's, many parts of which 
pleased me much: I mean his 'Institutes,' which 
Bishop Horsley says ought to be in every clergyman's 
library. Further than this I know nothing of Calvin 
or his opinions. I certainly did not form one single 
opinion from his book, for I had formed all my 
opinions long before from the Bible. Tou may re- 
member my telling you some years ago I declined 
greatly, almost entirely (inwardly) from the ways of 
God, and in my breast was an infidel, a disbeliever in 
the truths of the Bible. When the Lord brought me 
out of that dreadful state, and established my faith in 
His word, I determined to take that word alone for 
my guide. I read nothing else for between three and 
four months, and the Lord helped me to pray over 
every word that I read. At that time, and from that 
reading, all my- religious opinions were formed, and I 
have not changed one of them since. I knew nothing 

then of Calvin. I have said so much, dear , 

because I think it a very wicked thing to do, as you 
seem to think I do, to call Calvin or any man 
' master on earth,' or to make any human writer our 
guide in spiritual things." Miss Graham's religion 
consisted in receiving the whole Bible without par- 
tiality or gainsaying, loving God, and doing good to 
man. 



HOLY WOMEN. 287 

PROGRESS AND POWER. 

The source of all progress and power to the child of 
God is union, an abiding union with Jesus. Miss 
Graham felt this for years, and longed for it as the 
one thing needful to satisfy the cravings of her own 
soul, and increase her usefulness to others. The 
abiding graces of the Christian life, faith, — hope, and 
charity — are also its abiding forces. Christians should 
learn to live, as well as learn to die. The twofold 
significance of the text, "The just shall live by faith," 
struck deep into the generous soil of her ardent 
heart and active mind. The just shall be made alive 
first, and afterwards learn to live by faith. The just 
shall he justified he/ore God first, and afterwards learn 
the way to become just also in heart and life by faith. 
" If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye 
shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 
Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much 
fruit ; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father 
hath loved me, so have I loved you : continue ye in 
my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall 
abide in my love : even as I have kept my Father's 
commandments, and abide in His love. These things 
have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in 
you, and that your joy might be full." Simply to 
abide in Jesus is the whole philosophy of progress 
and power. 

CHARACTER OF MISS GRAHAM. 

The biographer of Miss Graham, has been con- 
strained to compensate for the paucity of incident — 
famished by her fife, to introduce large extracts from 



288 MODEL WOMEN. 

her writings and correspondence. From these ex- 
tracts, and a portrait taken four years before her 
death, we learn that her physical constitution was 
rather too finely strung. Bred delicately in a great 
city, shut up in a nursery in childhood, and in a 
school through youth — never accustomed to air or 
exercise, her beauty faded quickly, and she was cut 
off in the midst of life. To preserve health it is not 
necessary to visit some distant clime, nor to do some 
great thing, but simply to obey her laws. 

A striking feature of her intellectual character, was 
a total concentration of every power of thought and 
feeling in the object of pursuit immediately before 
her. In youthful games she engaged with the same 
ardour which she afterwards applied to languages 
and sciences. Indeed, she followed Solomon's advice 
in everything she undertook : " Whatsoever thine 
hand findeth to do, do it with thy might ! " It was 
impossible to divert her mind from the object that 
was engaging her attention to any other employment 
or recreation. To subjects of taste, she brought a 
glow of feeling and imagination; matters of a graver 
cast, are drawn out with the sober accuracy of a re- 
flecting and discriminating judgment. 
One of our poets glowingly exclaims, — 

" Thou bleeding Lamb ! 
The true morality is love of Thee." 

Miss Graham's love to her Saviour was one of her 
most prominent characteristics. Those parts of Scrip- 
ture that brought her into closer contact with the 
subject nearest her heart. Every evening she devoted 
n hour to intercessory prayer. She also set apart 



HOLY WOMEN. 289 

special times for secret dedication and communion 
with God. The sacred book was her constant food 
and study. Her love for the ordinances of God de- 
serves special remark. Messengers of the gospel she 
loved for their work's sake, and for their Master's 
sake. " Pray before, as well as after your visit " 
was her solemn entreaty to her own beloved minister. 

" Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever ; 
Do noble things, not dream them, all day long, 
And so make life, death, and that vast For-ever, 
One grand, sweet song." 



SECTION IV.— FIDELIA FI8KE. 

" In the structure and working of her whole nature, she seemed 
to me the nearest approach I ever saw, in man or woman, to my 
ideal of our blessed Saviour as He appeared on the earth." 

Dr. Anderson. 



CHRISTIANITY AND HUMAN NATURE. 

The peculiarities of Christianity form a most im- 
portant and powerful argument in favour at once of 
its truth and of its Divine origin. A comparison of 
Christianity with other religions not only proclaims 
it to be the only religion worthy of God and suitable 
for human nature ; but proclaims at the same time, 
and with equal power and effect, the utter futility of 
the infidel maxim, — that all religions are alike. A 
false religion, whether recorded in the pages of the 
Koran or the Shaster, may contain many important 
truths; but the fact that it is a human instead of 

u 



290 MODEL WOMEN. 

a Divine, a false instead of a true religion, indelibly 
stamps it as unacceptable in the sight of Him who is 
" Holy in all in His works ;" and nnadapted to meet 
the wants of sinful creatures. There is only one re- 
ligion in entire accord with all the phases, aspects, 
and transitions of the human mind ; and that is the 
religion of the Bible. Christianity is adapted to you 
as an intellectual being — it records a history — it re- 
veals a theology — it unfolds a philosophy — it affords 
scope for reasoning — it appeals to the imagination. 
Christianity is in harmony with your moral nature. 
Truly and beautifully has Sir Thomas Browne said, 
" There is no felicity in what the world adores — that 
wherein God Himself is happy, the holy angels are 
happy, and in whose defect the devils are unhappy — 
that dare I call happiness." Your character is en- 
tirely sinful and depraved. Christianity presents to 
you the ideal of your original rectitude, and would 
win you to the love of holiness, as a thing of beauty 
and majesty. Christianity is adapted to you as an 
emotional being. The facility in shedding tears at 
the remembrance of sin, or at the cross, is no evidence 
of repentance ; joy in the belief that sins are forgiven 
is no proof of conversion. Yet weeping is a mighty 
thing. Our Saviour never fell into sentimentalism or 
affectation, but His great soul ran over His eyes when 
on earth ; and it would do the same if He dwelt with 
us now. Christianity excites the deepest emotion, 
and wakes up all the tumultuous feelings of the soul. 
Christianity is in harmony with your social nature. 
It takes your state under its auspices ; and its ten- 
dency is, by its laws and influences, directly or in- 
directly, to etherealize the affections of the family, to 



HOLY WOMEN. 291 

ennoble the love of country, and to inflame all the 
enthusiasms which point to the good and glory of the 
race. Christianity is adapted to you as a suffering 
being. Trials are ill to bear. They are not "joyous, 
but grievous." Yet he who believes that all things 
work together for good, will thank God for medicine 
as well as for food ; and for the winter that kills the 
weeds, as well as for the summer that ripens the fields. 
Christianity is in harmony with your immortal nature. 
Tou are full of "thoughts that wander through 
eternity ;" and Christianity establishes the truth of a 
future state — secures its glory — prepares for its en- 
joyment. It makes the hope of heaven a guiding 
principle in life, adapting its disclosures and descrip- 
tions of the future inheritance to the varied circum- 
stances of the present. What a religion this ! — it is 
the power of Grod, and the wisdom of Grod. " How 
shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation ? " 

BIOGRAPHY. 

Fidelia Fiske was born on the 1st May, 1816, at Shel- 
burne ; a decayed town in Nova Scotia. Her father, 
a man of noble form, benignant face, and saintly cha- 
racter, who lived to the patriarchal age of ninety-two ; 
was descended of ancestors who had emigrated from 
England to America. Her mother was a woman of 
great activity and equability ; a native of Taunton, Mas- 
sachusetts. This colony took its name from the circum- 
stance that it was founded by a number of Christian 
men and women, who went forth from St. Mary 
Magdalene church, Taunton, Somerset, in the days of 
Archbishop Laud. The home of her childhood was a 

u2 






292 MODEL WOMEN. 

plain one- storey farmhouse, the large family room of 
which served as kitchen, nursery, dining and sitting 
room. In that mountain-home life was quiet and 
simple, yet by no means dull and monotonous. Around 
the blazing fire the little circle gathered every even- 
ing, while sewing, knitting, reading, and story-telling 
filled up the swift hours ; till at length the great Bible 
was brought forth, a chapter read, and a fervent prayer 
offered. At early dawn they renewed their peaceful 
pursuits, amid the ceaseless and ever- varying voices 
of nature. As a child, Fidelia was unusually thought- 
ful and observing. She always weighed consequences, 
and nothing could escape her notice. 

When about four years of age, she began to attend 
the district school near her father's house. Here for 
some ten or twelve years she pursued the studies 
usually taught in country schools. Though by no 
means a prodigy, she had next to no labour in acquir- 
ing the art of reading ; and easily outstripped others 
of the same age, and won the place of honour in her 
class. On the 12th of July, 1831, Fidelia made a 
public profession of her faith in Christ, and became a 
member of the Congregational church at Shelburne. 
In 1839, Miss Fiske entered the middle class in Mount 
Holyoke seminary. This institution enjoyed a high 
reputation for its educational and religious tone. Miss 
Lyon, who presided over it, was a most gifted, fasci- 
nating, and holy woman. Early impressed by religious 
truth, Fidelia here found herself in a thoroughly 
congenial element. The diligence and thoroughness 
of study required suited her mental habits ; while 
the prominence given to religious instruction and 
religious duties met the wants of her rapidly- develop- 



HOLY WOMEN. 293 

ing religious life. As might have been expected, she 
soon formed an attachment for Miss Lyon, which was 
reciprocated, and which time only intensified. At the 
close of her first year, a malignant form of typhoid 
fever appeared in the academy. Miss Fiske returned 
home to her parents. Two days after, she was seized 
with the disorder, and for many days lay at the gate 
of death. During that season of sickness she learned, 
for the first time, the real feelings of the sick and 
dying, and how to care for them. Nor were these 
the only lessons she learnt. The malady passed from 
her to her father, who went through the gate that 
seemed to have opened for his daughter. Her younger 
sister also, who had been converted in answer to her 
prayers, followed her father into the land of the im- 
mortals. The autumn of the following year found 
her again at Mount Holyoke, a member of the senior 
class. After graduating, she became a teacher. Al- 
though high culture marked in a distinguishing 
degree this seminary, it was unlike many of the 
schools in England for ladies, where the tinsel of 
accomplishments is preferred to the ennobling influ- 
ence of piety. 

We have now reached the great crisis in her history. 
At the meeting of the American Board at Norwich, 
Connecticut, in the autumn of 1842, Miss Lyon was 
very anxious that her seminary should be more 
fchorougly pervaded with the missionary spirit. Call- 
ing a meeting of such as were present, she told them 
that the institution had been founded to advance the 
missionary cause, and that she " sometimes felt that 
its walls had been built from the funds of missionary 
boards." Miss Fiske little knew how much that meet- 



294 MODEL WOMEN. 

ing would cost her. While she and others were 
earnestly pleading for the heathen, the Lord's messen- 
ger was approaching her with a call to become a mis- 
sionary herself. Dr. Perkins came to Mount Holyoke, 
and made a request for a young lady to go with him 
to Persia. Miss Fiske sent a note to him with these 
brief words, " If counted worthy, I should be willing 
to go." On her decision becoming known at the 
seminary, Miss Lyon said, " If such are your feelings, 
we will go and see your mother and sisters;" and in 
an hour they were on their way. A thirty miles' ride, 
on a cold wintry Saturday, through snow-drifts in 
which they were several times upset, brought them to 
the Shelburne hills. The family were aroused from 
their slumbers to receive unexpected guests, and to 
hold an unexpected consultation. Prayers and tears 
mingled with the solemn and tender discussions of the 
hour. Before the Sabbath closed, her mother was 
enabled cheerfully to say, " Go, my child, go." Other 
friends could not withhold their consent, and the great 
question was definitely decided. 

On Wednesday, March 1st, 1843, Miss Fiske, with 
others destined for the same general field, embarked 
on board the Emma Isadora. At half-past four 
o'clock p.m. the barque left her wharf, and moving 
down the harbour was soon out of sight. The voyage 
was pleasant. A storm overtook them, but no fear 
disturbed Miss Fiske ; despite the anxious countenance 
of the captain, and the need for vigilance on the part 
of the crew, she writes : " I look out from my cabin 
window to trace a Father's hand in this wild commo- 
tion." She did not wait until she arrived in Persia, 
but began her ministry of love by taking under her 



HOLY WOMEN. 295 

special care the young daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Per- 
kins, guiding her studies and leading her to the 
Saviour. On the 8th of April, the ship anchored 
before Smyrna. After a week's rest the Austrian 
steamer left, and in thirty-eight hours reached Con- 
stantinople. The perils and hardships of the sea were 
past, but seven or eight hundred miles still lay between 
our missionary friends and their Persian home. How- 
ever, under the skilful guidance of Dr. Perkins, they 
passed safely to Urumiyah, their destined field of 
labour. 

According to English gazetteers, Urumiyah is a 
walled town, and contains upwards of 20,000 inhabit- 
ants, of whom about 10,000 are Nestorians, 2000 
Jews, and the rest Mohammedans. It claims to be the 
birthplace of Zoroaster, and in the vicinity are several 
mounds supposed to be the hills of the ancient fire- 
worshippers. The Nestorians derive their name frem 
Nestorious, a heretic of the fifth century, who taught 
that Christ was divided into two persons. Nestorius 
acquired so much distinction by his learning, pulpit 
eloquence, and purity of life, that, in 428, he was 
elevated to the patriarchate of Constantinople. But 
fourteen centuries had wrought terrible degradation 
in Persia. There was little of Christianity, except the 
name, when the American Board of Commissioners 
established a mission and educational agency in 1834. 
The language of the Nestorians contained no words 
corresponding to home and wife, the nearest appproach 
to them being house and woman. To a person of 
refinement and delicacy, like Miss Fiske, it must 
have been shocking to see women treated by men as 
drudges and slaves : wives beaten often and severely 



296 MODEL WOMEN. 

by their husband ; yea, a whole village of these coarse 
and passionate creatures engaged in a quarrel among 
themselves, their hair all loose and flying in the wind. 
Miss Fiske's chief solicitudes were given to the edu- 
cational agency. By great tact she effected consider- 
able reformation in the schools, and corrected the 
prevalent habits of lying and stealing among her 
pupils. She also found time to visit the JSTestorian 
women, to pray with them, and read the Scriptures. 
In 1844, her labours and plans were suddenly 
interrupted by a storm of persecution which burst 
upon the mission. When the missionaries had most 
reason to fear expulsion, Miss Fiske thus wrote: — 
" I knew not before that my affections had become so 
closely entwined around this poor people, nor how 
severely I should feel a removal from them. ,, In 
the providence of God their enemies were thwarted; 
and they were permitted to remain and go on with 
their work, though not without great opposition. 
Towards the end of the year, Miss Fiske resumed her 
duties. How hard she laboured; with what holy fire 
her bosom burned ; how earnestly she longed for a 
brighter day to dawn on the wretched Persian women ; 
with what success she enforced upon mothers as well 
as pupils their relative duties; how brilliantly she 
illustrated the text, " Dying, and behold we live 5 
unknown, and yet well known ; poor, yet making 
many rich; having nothing, yet possessing all 
things " ! In 1849, the first public examination of 
the school was held, and about two hundred guests 
listened with unabated interest to the exercises till 
the sun went down. The pupils were examined in 
ancient and modern Syriac, Bible history, geography, 



HOLY WOMEN. 297 

and natural philosophy. The following year opened 
npon them in a new, large, and convenient building. 
In the antnmn of 1856, the Persian government 
again tried to break up the educational agency. 
Askar Khan visited the seminary, and explored every 
part of it. He questioned one of the girls who could 
speak Turkish, but was baffled by the discreet replies 
of the pupil; yet in a decided manner he condemned 
female education, and told the girls that their former 
condition was the only proper one for them. 

When we think of the physical labour, the mental 
effort, the practical wisdom, the ready discernment of 
character, the unconquerable perseverance, and the 
devoted piety necessary for discharging the functions 
of a female missionary ; we do not wonder that six- 
teen years produced a wearing and exhausting effect 
upon Miss Fiske's health. The time had come when 
change was imperatively demanded ; and as Dr. 
Perkins and Mrs. Stoddard were expecting to leave 
for America the following summer, it was decided 
that she should accompany them. During the inter- 
vening months she received ample evidence of the per- 
manency of the work of grace that had been wrought 
in the land of her adoption. On the morning of her 
departure, about seventy former pupils gathered about 
her, and asked the privilege of one more prayer — 
meeting with her in her room, u the little Bethel," as 
they called it. Six prayers were offered, all tender 
and comforting — one particularly so; and this one 
she had frequent occasion to remember in the course 
of her long journey, and always felt comforted and 
encouraged by it. 

The population of Nova Scotia is now chiefly com- 



298 MODEL WOMEN. 

posed of a native race, sprung directly or indirectly 
from the three great families of the United Kingdom. 
They are situated on the confines of a frozen ocean, 
but their hearts are not chilled, nor their friendships 
blunted by its influence. Miss Fiske soon recognised 
many in the group which surrounded her at the old 
sanctuary on the first Sunday after her return. 
Daring 1860, she visited Boston, to say farewell to a 
band of missionaries destined for the Nestorian field. 
Although glad that labourers were being sent forth, 
she could not repress a pang of regret that she could 
not go with them. Most extensive and blessed was 
the work she carried on during her sojourn in 
America ; but amid it all the noble woman turned 
her face to the East and longed to be among the 
daughters of Persia. Feebler and fainter, however, 
became that hope ; and soon it was certain that no 
journey but that to the "beautiful land" lay before 
Miss Fiske. 

For six weeks she was confined almost entirely to 
her bed. She was able, however, to write many 
letters of counsel and comfort. One written May 26th, 
1864, and addressed to Dr. Wright, on his leaving 
America for Persia, indicated her never-failing inte- 
rest in the work to which she had consecrated the best 
years of her life. The disease, which at first was 
supposed to be cancerous, proved to be a general 
inflammation of the lymphatic vessels. For two or 
three nights she was obliged to remain in a sitting 
posture. Her last loving message to the teachers and 
pupils of Mount Holyoke, closed with the words, 
" Live for Christ ; in so doing we shall be blessed in 
time and in eternity.' ' On the Sabbath morning she 



HOLY WOMEN. 299 

asked to have a number of the tracts entitled " Im- 
manuel's Land " laid npon her table, so that every 
person visiting her might carry away one. The Rev. 
E. T. Swift called to see her on Tuesday, July 26th. 
She held out her hand to welcome him, and feebly 
said, "Will you pray." These were her last words. 
As the prayer ascended, her spirit was caught up to 
learn the strains of the everlasting song of praise. 

Not in the land of the Persian, but in her native 
country — the soil from which spring the children of 
freedom, the hearts of honesty, and the arms of 
bravery — was the body let down to the grave, in the 
full assurance that the soul was in heaven. At the 
funeral, one who knew her well, said : " God sent her 
to benighted Persia, that those poor people might 
have there an image of Jesus, and learn what He was 
like ; not by cold theories, but by a living example. 
He brought her back to us, that we might see what 
sanctified human nature can become, and might gain 
a new view of the power of His grace. " Some old 
grey heads, more becoming grey, and many bright in 
manhood and womanhood, breathed the prayer : — 

" Then farewell, pure spirit ! and oh that on all 
Thy mantle of love and devotion might fall ! 
Like thee may we toil, that with thee we may rest, 
With our Saviour above, in the home of the blest ! " 



SECOND AND BETTER BIRTH. 

Miss Piske could neither remember the time when 
she was unimpressed by religious truth, nor the 
precise period at which she was born again. To her 
father she was indebted for that remarkable acquaint- 



300 MODEL WOMEN. 

ance with the Bible, which often surprised and 
delighted her friends. Fond of general reading, he 
took a special pleasure in consulting the lively oracles. 
He honoured the Bible in the family. When his 
children manifested a distaste for their lessons in the 
catechism, he permitted them to substitute the in- 
spired for the uninspired word. He believed that it 
was quite as safe to drink at the fountain-head as at 
the stream. When thirteen years of age, her Sabbath- 
school teacher — a daughter of her pastor — one day 
faithfully addressed her class on the subject of 
personal religion. That night Fidelia lay on her bed 
wakeful and tearful. At length her anxiety became 
too great to be concealed. Her mother suspecting 
the true state of the case, and alluding to the fact 
that something seemed to be troubling her, one day 
kindly said, " What is it, my child ?" The full heart 
instantly overflowed with the long pent-up feeling, as 
she answered, " Mother, I am a lost sinner." She 
had a wise counsellor, who led her to look well into 
the grounds of her hope; and the result was a Chris- 
tian profession, not only free from palpable defect, but 
unusually enriched with the fruits of the Spirit. 
When an infant leaves the womb, although the same, 
it may be said to be a new creature. ISTow, just 
because the change wrought on the soul in con- 
version is also great, it is called a birth. That is 
the first ; this is the second, and better birth. Better ! 
because in that a daughter of man is born but for 
the grave ; whereas in this a daughter of God is born 
for glory. 



HOLY WOMEN. 301 



JUVENILE HABIT OF DOING GOOD. 

She soon began to take a deep and active interest 
in the spiritual welfare of others. Her heart went 
forth most tenderly towards the poor of Christ's flock, 
amongst whom she spent a large portion of her time, 
seeking not only to comfort them, but to improve her 
own piety by listening to their simple records of 
Divine goodness. She loved the Lord's poor in- 
tensely ; and could not bear to hear their infirmities 
too freely animadverted upon. She delighted un- 
bidden to soothe the sorrows of those who were in 
distress, no matter how bad their previous conduct 
may have been. To activity in her kind offices she 
joined perseverance. Her charity was an evergreen, 
preserving its verdure at all seasons. 

The Sabbath- school was to her a most congenial 
sphere of usefulness, and to its labours she gave 
herself with full purpose of heart. She had a high 
idea of the importance of this work; spent much time 
in preparation for her class ; and was an example of 
punctuality, regularity, kindness, and devotion. Her 
interest in her pupils was not confined to the hour 
spent with them on the Sabbath. She sought, in 
various ways, to win them to Christ, often calling the 
pen to her aid. Verily she believed that the whole 
Church was formed of individual members, and the 
whole tide of Christian exertion made up of single 
acts; just as the ocean is formed of drops, the globe 
of particles, and the nocturnal glory of single stars. 
Her sentiments were in harmony with the following 
inspiring verses : — 



302 MODEL WOMEN. 

" G-o up and watch the new-born rill, 
Just bursting from its mossy bed ; 
Streaking the heath-clad hill, 
With a bright emerald thread. 

Canst thou its bold career foretell, 
What rock it may o'erleap or rend ; 

How far in ocean swell, 

Its freshening billows send ? 

Perchance that little rill may flow 
The bulwark of some mighty realm — 

Bear navies to and fro, 

With monarchs at their helm. 

A pebble in the streamlet scant, 

Has turned the course of many a river ; 

A dew-drop on the tiny plant, 
May warp the giant oak for ever." 



MISSIONARY LIFE. 

Miss Piske had the spirit of a missionary, before 
she had the most distant conception of ever being en- 
gaged in the work. Her missionary life would not suffer 
by comparison with that of the most devoted agents 
who ever entered the field. At Seir, the Lord gave 
her an earnest of the blessing He was about to bestow 
on her self- renouncing labours in Persia. When the 
intelligence was received by her of sixty young ladies 
who were unconverted at the time she left Mount 
Holyoke, and all but six of whom were now rejoicing 
in hope, she burst into a flood of grateful tears. 

When the American missionaries went to Persia, 
there was but a single ISTestorian female who could 
read. She was Helena, the sister of the Patriarch, 



HOLT WOMEN. 303 

whose superior rank secured her this accomplishment. 
The rest were not only ignorant, but content to remain 
so. In addition to this, the poor Nestorians groaned 
under the bondage of a Mohammedan yoke, whose 
rule was capricious and tyrannical. In entering on 
her missionary duties, Miss Fiske writes : " Soon after 
our arrival, one of the elder members of our circle 
remarked that he did not know of five in the whole 
Nestorian nation whom he could look upon as true 
Christians." The female seminary, which has done 
so much for the social, intellectual, and spiritual im- 
provement of woman in Persia, was, during the first 
five years of its existence, simply a day-school : the 
pupils boarding at home, and spending only a few 
hours daily with their teachers in the school-room. 
From the first, she was very desirous of changing the 
character of the school, making it a boarding-school, 
in which pupils might remain several years, and be 
under the exclusive care and training of the teachers. 
The very idea of such a school was so repugnant to 
all the hereditary views of social propriety among the 
Nestorians, as to seem almost chimerical. Most of 
the girls were betrothed before they were twelve years 
of age ; and the parents were afraid to give up those 
who were not, lest they should lose some favourable 
opportunity of marriage. They were also apprehen- 
sive that if their daughters were put to a boarding- 
school, they would not be able to carry heavy burdens, 
nor wield the spade so successfully as their com- 
panions who had never learned to read. But not- 
withstanding these difficulties, Miss Fiske succeeded 
in establishing a flourishing school conformed to her 
own ideal. 



304 MODEL WOMEN. 

Her efforts to interest the women in the Bible were 
sometimes amusing. After reading the history of the 
creation, she asked, " Who was the first man ? " They 
answered, "What do we know? we are women." 
Then she told them that Adam was the first man, 
and made them repeat the name till they remembered 
it. The next question was, "What does it mean ?" 
Here too they could give no answer; but were 
delighted to find that the first man was called red 
earth, because he was made of it. This was enough 
for one lesson. It woke up faculties previously 
dormant. She was not content with the few women 
who came to receive religious instruction at the semi- 
nary ; but visited them at their homes, going from 
house to house, where filth and vermin would have 
repelled any woman of refinement whose heart did 
not glow with love to Christ, and love to perishing 
souls for whom He died. 



RESULT OF A CONSECRATED LIFE. 

The great study of Miss Fiske was to be Christ- 
like. She lived but for one object — the glory of the 
Redeemer in connection with the salvation of im- 
mortal souls. Hence, she carried with her a kind of 
hallowing influence into every company into which 
she entered ; and her friends were accustomed to feel 
as if all were well when their measures met with the 
sanction and approval of the young missionary. In 
January, 1846, the work of the Holy Spirit became 
deep and general. The first Monday of the new year 
was observed by the mission as a day of fasting and 
prayer. " We had spoken," writes Miss Fiske, " of 



HOLY WOMEN. 305 

passing that day in wrestling for souls. But we had 
only begun to seek, not to wrestle, when we learned 
that souls were pleading for themselves." The 
intellects of the girls seemed greatly quickened by 
the grace in their hearts ; thus illustrating the power 
of the gospel, to elevate and improve the whole 
character and life. The conversion of Deacon 
Gewergis, one of the vilest of the Nestorians ; and 
his subsequent devotion to Christ, is too beautiful 
and of too profound significance to be omitted. 
After much faithful and affectionate conversation, 
Miss Fiske said to him, " When we stand at the bar 
of God, and when you are found on the left hand, as 
you certainly will be if you go on in your present 
course, promise me that you will tell the assembled 
universe that, on this 22nd day of February, 1846, 
you were told your danger." She could say no more ; 
her heart was full. He burst into tears, and said, 
" My sister, I need this salvation." On the 12th 
March, 1856, he died in the Lord. The year 1849 
witnessed one of the most interesting and extensive 
revivals that ever occurred in connection with the 
Nestorian mission. All the girls in the female semi- 
nary over twelve years of age, were hopefully con- 
verted, and many of them were, from that time, bright 
and shining lights in that dark land. The secret of 
these conversions may surely be said to be the spirit 
of entire dependence upon God. The imagination 
was not appealed to by terrors. There were no 
dramatic scenes to awaken fear. There was no mere 
got-up excitement. It was as if flowers that had 
been in darkness were persuaded to crave the blessed 
sunlight. 



306 MODEL WOMEN. 

CHARACTER OF MISS FISKE. 

Some of our great writers' portray the physique of 
their heroes and heroines so minutely that they start 
into life before onr eyes. Height, size, complexion, 
conformation of features, to a gauntlet or ribbon, all 
are on the graphic page. But the excellent memoir 
recently published in England, gives us no account of 
the personnel of Fidelia Fiske. Judging from her 
portrait, she was about the middle size, finely formed 
features, rather delicate, loving eye, mild face, natur- 
ally diffident, yet cheerful, trustful, and hopeful. 

She was a singularly gifted woman, and could 
accomplish with comparative ease what would be 
quite impracticable, or very difficult, to others. 
There was the quick comprehension, and the execu- 
tive tact, which hardly ever made a failure, or put 
forth an inefficient effort. Every stroke and every 
touch from her always told in every undertaking. 
There was not the slightest bluster nor pretension 
about her. So quiet and unostentatious were her 
movements, that they would not have been observed, 
but for their marvellous results. If endowed with 
genius; it was unaccompanied by eccentricity or 
folly. 

We need scarcely add that she was a noble specimen 
of true Christian womanhood. With the testimony 
of Dr. Kirk, the eminent Congregationalist minister of 
Boston, we close our pleasant task. " I wish to speak 
carefully ; but I am sure I can say I never saw one 
who came nearer to Jesus in self-sacrifice. If ever 
there should be an extension of the eleventh chapter 
of Hebrews, I think the name of Fidelia Fiske would 



HOLY WOMEN. 307 

stand there. That is a list of those who either had 
remarkable faith, or who suffered for the truth. She 
was a martyr. She made the greatest sacrifice. She 
had given ujp her will ; and when you have done that, 
the rest is easy. To burn at the stake for awhile, to 
be torn on the rack, to be devoured by wild beasts, is 
as nothing when you have torn out your own will, 
and laid it upon God's altar." 



1 2 



CHAPTER VIII. 

$oxmutwn of Jfmafe €\mx%thx. 



" The foundation of all great character must be laid in a 
change wrought upon the heart by Divine influence. We say a 
change of the heart, because the qualities which we bring with us 
into the world can never be so improved and polished as to lead 
us to act in the manner which the Divine law requires. Some of 
the evil propensities of our nature may be checked, the force of 
some passions may be weakened, and that of others guided into a 
new direction ; but in the change of which we speak, and which 
we affirm to be the foundation of all true character, these passions 
are extirpated altogether, and the virtues of patience, self-denial, 
and fortitude, are implanted in their room." 

James A. Wylie, LL.D. 



VALUE AND INFLUENCE OF CHARACTER. 

It would not be easy to name a question of more 
vital interest than the importance of character to the 
individual and the world. The subject is peculiarly 
interesting at present, when, as we apprehend, a new 
era is opening on society, in which character shall be 
more than ever necessary. By character we mean 
qualities of soul ; as these are noble or ignoble, so is 
your character, and so shall be the influence of your 
life. When we see a young woman entering upon a 
career of sin, it is not the amount of wrong that 
alarms us most ; it is the fact that she is forming a 
character which will pursue her through life, and 



FORMATION OF FEMALE CHAEACTEE. 309 

urge her forward in her evil ways, till rushing head- 
long down the paths of vice, she falls at last into 
hopeless dishonour here and misery hereafter. When, 
on the other hand, we see a young woman giving 
herself to the cultivation of right dispositions and 
good principles, — when we see her consistently sub- 
jecting the inferior principles of her nature to reason, 
and her lusts and passions to her conscience, and all 
her powers to the control of religion and the fear of 
God, — it is not this or that particular good thing that 
pleases us most ; it is the fact that she is forming a 
character which will become to her like a guardian 
angel, bearing her up in the rough places of life, and 
at last enabling her to dwell in the purer and happier 
atmosphere of heaven itself. To all, as individuals, 
as parents, as members of a family, and as members 
of society in general, there is something of solemn 
importance in the fact that none can stand neutral : 
all must take one of two courses of life, — the right or 
the wrong, — the good or the bad, — the true or the 
false. 

The end of Providence, as a system of moral 
discipline, is the formation of character. The ulti- 
mate design of all the trials and disappointments and 
sorrows, the afflictions bodily and mental, personal 
and relative, to which all are subject, and from which 
none are exempt, is the restoration of that character 
which sin has destroyed. Heaven, as to its sub- 
stance, consists in the perfection of character. Men- 
tal philosophy renders it a matter of certainty that 
the soul possesses an inherent capacity of receiving 
happiness or enduring misery to an extent at present 
wholly inconceivable. Generally speaking, the powers 



310 MODEL WOMEN. 

of your inner nature are asleep during life ; but no 
sooner shall death have loosed the fetters that now 
confine them, than they will awake, never more to 
slumber or sleep: they will start up like the fiery 
whirlwind, and begin their sweep along their mighty 
orbit, rendering the path of the spirit one of eternal 
blackness and desolation ; or they will then move on 
without let or hindrance in their path of light and 
joy, like the white-robed planet of the heavens around 
the great source of gravitation. 

All those great revolutions by which the world has 
been extensively and permanently benefited have 
been brought about mainly by the influence of 
character. Genius has discovered the sciences and 
perfected the arts, and these have given us almost 
unlimited dominion over the world on which we 
dwell. So many and so substantial have been the 
benefits genius has conferred, that it may seem at 
first sight as if she had been the great benefactress of 
the world. But it is not difficult to show that the 
progress of art or science, unless their application be 
regulated by sound moral principle, is even dangerous 
to the world : they must be either a blessing or a 
curse, according as they are used or abused. From a 
variety of causes, the planting of Christianity in the 
world was the hardest task ever assigned to any of 
the human race. Alas ! mere genius could have done 
little in that great work. Her vocation is to shine, 
and the promulgation of Christianity required suffer- 
ing. The first Christians were not distinguished for 
their learning or eloquence, but they were endowed 
with power from on high to proclaim faithfully and 
courageously the great facts of which they had been 



FORMATION OF FEMALE CHARACTER. 311 

the eye-witnesses. How manifest it is that we owe 
the spread of Christianity, not to talent, but to charac- 
ter. In the contest which resulted in the glorious 
Reformation, mere genius would soon have been 
foiled ; heroic hardihood of soul, unbounded homage 
for truth, and unmeasured contempt for error, were 
necessary to burst the fetters of superstition. Talent 
could detect the errors of the Romish system, lash 
the vices of the clergy, and consign the Pope to ever- 
burning fires; but character was needed to accom- 
plish the more difficult task of emancipating Europe. 
That character is superior to talent is evident from 
the maxim, now become trite, that example is better 
than precept. It is also more valuable than rank. 
You may be proud of your pedigree, and point with 
imperial gusto to the family crest ; but remember 
that rank is an accident over which you have no 
control, and titles will be felt to be empty things 
when you he pining on a bed of sickness. In the 
present state of the world, reputation may rank 
higher than character, but it should be borne in mind 
that the former is merely the symbol of the latter. 
Maintain your character, be not over-anxious about 
your reputation. Character is the woman — -reputa- 
tion is only what the woman is said to be. 

ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION. 

It has been thought by some that all human minds 
are originally constituted alike : that as you can 
move eastward or westward, according as you choose 
to set your face in the one direction or the other ; so 
it depends entirely on the determination of the will 



312 MODEL WOMEN. 

in what department of effort you shall excel. But we 
need scarcely remark that all children are not alike 
precocious, and all adults are not alike capable of 
learning and teaching. Original constitution, out of 
which women as well as men are made, is infinitely 
varied. As from a few elements the endless forms of 
matter are built up, so out of different proportions of 
mental and moral qualities the endless diversities of 
human character are formed. In the world of matter, 
an almost infinitesimally small portion of foreign 
substance may quite alter the chemical character of a 
compound; and in the world of mind, the smallest 
excess or defect in any given faculty or feeling may 
make all the difference between the best and the 
worst, the dullest and the brightest, of mankind. 
Some seem to have all the most characteristic ele- 
ments of greatness heaped upon their heads, or 
intensified in their constitutions ; and so they become 
wonders to the world. Others have minds so obtuse 
that none but the plainest elements of knowledge are 
attainable by them, and souls so torpid that they are 
never able to originate a poetic thought. 

If we turn to external nature, we behold endless 
diversity. How various the forms of animal life, 
whether considered in existing species, or traced back 
through endless ages to the first dawn of time ! In 
the mineral kingdom, what forms and hues may we 
trace, from the diamonds of royal crowns down to 
the rocks of the everlasting hills ! So in the vegetable 
domain. The weed flourishes in the bed of the sea — 
the moss on the summits of our highland hills — the 
lichen amidst the ice and snow of Nova Zembla — the 
palm in India — the cedar in Lebanon— and the pine in 



FORMATION OF FEMALE CHARACTER. 313 

Norway. Shall not God's resources find their 
amplest illustration in His last and noblest work — 
humanity? It is contrary to all analogy to expect 
uniformity of faculty or temperament among the 
human species. Be it observed, also, that as in the 
animal kingdom, structure necessitates function and 
habit ; that as in the mineral kingdom there are fixed 
laws which we cannot alter; and that as in the 
vegetable kingdom nature determines her own 
growths : so in the world of mind, in the formation 
of character, while God permits moral agency, he 
asserts His own sovereignty. We do not believe that 
you are children of circumstances, as socialists and 
fatalists affirm, so that your character is formed for 
you, and not by you ; still it would be the utmost 
folly to deny that circumstances exercise a mighty 
influence. As the storms affect the flight of the eagle 
and the speed of the steam- ship, but do not determine 
their course : so your original constitution influences 
you, but does not necessarily determine your cha- 
racter. 

FAMILY CIRCLE. 

The discussions which have of late occupied the 
public mind regarding the polemics of education, 
have, we fear, had an injurious influence on the real 
progress of education amongst us. Some tell us that 
it is the bounden duty of the State to educate the 
democracy ; and others inform us that the Church of 
the country is the proper instructress of the people. 
Without attempting to expose by facts, or assail in 
abstractions, the reasoning of these different classes, 
we would remark, that in the world children have to 



314 MODEL WOMEN. 

toil, to struggle, to resist, to endure — to labour long, 
and to wait patiently for a distant and even, to a 
certain extent, precarious result; and the school for 
the kind of lore which fits for that is around the 
domestic hearth. 

A powerful influence is exerted by the family 
circle, in the formation of character. While all real 
formation must be self-formation, we cannot deny 
the moulding agencies of home life. Indeed the 
plastic power of home is so great as to be almost 
appalling. Home society works on the very found- 
ations of character, and at no stage of life is social 
influence so strong as in youth ; and no influence is 
so powerful as that of a mother over a daughter. 
Whence issues that moral influence which, to the 
tender mind, is paramount over all formal teaching ? 
Primarily and supremely from the mother. The 
histories of all who have risen above the level of 
their compeers, shows that the largest and most 
potent share of influence lies with the mother. God's 
plan of reforming communities is to train families. 
When an architect was asked how he built one of 
the lofty chimneys which stud some parts of Lanca- 
shire, he replied, " I built it up from within." 
Nations are built up in the same manner. The future 
mothers of a people are the best protectresses of a 
state from moral deteriorations. When every cottage 
in our land shall be blest with a well educated female, 
bearing the noble distinctions of wife, mother, and 
Christian ! we may hope that the vilest wanderer will 
be reclaimed to the sweet bonds of household alle- 
giance. 

" How pleasing," says Dr. Winter Hamilton, 



FORMATION OF FEMALE CHARACTER. 315 

" are the touches of domestic tenderness and order, 
which some incidental passage, in a classical author 
unfolds, as marking* the Roman common life. "We 
are accustomed to think of it only in its severer 
forms. We call up before our minds unrelenting 
sternness and stoicism. But the parental character 
was not despoiled of its nature. It was beheld in 
the most ardent desire to train offspring for all social 
duties. While it assiduously prepared them for the 
state, it resigned not that business to it. Thus in 
the Adelphi of Terence, the wit of Syrus does not 
hide from us the paternal influence in education. 
' Ut quisque suum vult esse, ita est. 9 Nor does the 
weakness of Demea conceal the indefatigable earnest- 
ness of that influence : — 

* Nil prsetermitto : consuefacio : denique, 
Inspicere, tanquam in speculum, in vitas omnium 
Jubeo, atque exallis sumere exemplum sibi.' 

An education not provided in this manner, an appa- 
ratus set up independently of a popular choice and 
control, can never be valued as it must be to be 
availing. " 

We gladly turn from the institutes of man to the 
ordinances of God. In the laws of that religion by 
which Jehovah reigned before His ancient people 
gloriously, there is no enactment which dissolves 
parental responsibility in the education of children ; 
and none which transfers it. He spake of the great 
ancestor of that people the encomium which con- 
tained the germ of their government: " For I know 
him, that he will command his children and his 
household after him, and they shall keep the way of 



316 MODEL WOMEN. 

the law, to do justice and judgment." This was to 
be the rule of transmission. " Teach them thy sons 
and thy sons' sons." " Thou shalt teach them dili- 
gently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them 
when thou sittest in thy house." " He established a 
testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, 
which he commanded our fathers, that they should 
make them known to their children : that the gene- 
ration to come might know them, even the children 
which should be born, who should arise and declare 
them to their children." Not less tender, distinct, 
and authoritative is the Christian law : " Te fathers, 
provoke not your children to wrath : but bring them 
up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." 
" Children, obey your parents in all things : for this 
is well pleasing unto the Lord." No one can 
doubt that the Bible enjoins on parents the duty of 
carefully training up their children, and of making 
it the grand purpose of this life to prepare them for 
heaven. 

By a beautiful provision for keeping up the 
healthy interaction of the social forces, when the 
period of adolescence is reached, the sympathies burst 
the boundary of the domestic circle, and, through 
delicate and often inscrutable affinities, seek objects 
of attachment in the outer world. The upper, the 
middle, and the lower classes, for various reasons 
must go out into society. That principles of charac- 
ter can be imparted is one of the plainest doctrines 
of the Bible, as well as one of the commonest facts 
of human experience. For this express purpose, all 
the educative agencies of home, the school, the plat- 
form, the press, and the pulpit, have been instituted, 



FOEMATION OF FEMALE CHAEACTEE. 817 

are kept in operation. The Christian Chnrch was 
formed by its Divine Head that all those to whom 
His words are spirit and life, should impart them to 
others. Christianity is a propagandist system, and 
is designed to revolutionize not the opinions so much 
as the ideas and motives of humanity. When we 
look at hundreds of girls, in pairs and triads, en- 
gaged in incessant and animated conversation ; when 
we think of the influences under which their charac- 
ters are forming, and remember that these characters, 
in all probability, will last through life, — we almost 
shrink back from the reflection, that here are the 
mothers of the next generation ! If there is con- 
tamination here, the consequences are more disas- 
trous than we are able to compute. Mutual influence 
is a law that embraces all worlds, pervades all the 
kingdoms of nature, and reaches its climax in 
humanity. AJ1 the elements and laws of the lower 
kingdom are summed up here ; and magnetism, 
affinity, and gravitation find their spiritual archetypes 
in the influence of mind on mind. The character is 
like a piece of potter's clay, which when fresh and 
new, is easily fashioned according to the will of those 
into whose hands it falls ; but its form once given, 
and hardened, either by the slow drying of time, or 
by its passage through the ardent furnace of the 
world, any one may break it to atoms, but never bend 
it again to another mould. 

To borrow the language of a writer in the Quar- 
terly Review : " However difficult it may be to account 
philosophically for what is called national character — 
to explain precisely in what it consists, or how 
exactly it is formed — no one will venture to deny 



318 MODEL WOMEN. 

that there is such a thing ; some secret influence of 
climate and soil, combining with the still more in- 
explicable peculiarities of the races of men, and which 
seems to a considerable degree independent even of 
education or individual qualities. The steady English, 
the wary Scotch, the testy Welsh, the volatile French, 
the phlegmatic Butch, the artistic Italian, the solemn 
Spaniard, — all these are crowded into so small a space 
of the earth's surface as some twenty degrees of 
latitude and longitude ; and having most of the 
essential circumstances of social influence common to 
all, yet are each marked with a national stamp, 
indelible in natives, and still frequently distinguish- 
able for two or three generations in families that have 
migrated into other countries." But although in 
each of the great national circles of society, we find 
characteristics which mark it out socially and morally 
from others, we must not judge individuals nation- 
ally. All the English are not freighted to the water 
with stability; nor are all the Scotch remarkably 
cautious ; nor are the tempers of all the Welsh like 
touchwood or tinder ; nor are all the French frivolous ; 
nor are all the Dutch lazy ; nor are all the Italians 
painters ; nor are all the Spaniards distinguished for 
gravity. Still nations, as such, have their idiosyn- 
crasies, as attested by well authenticated history and 
by present facts. 

If we narrow the social circle, we find that where 
association is closer, characteristics are more distinct. 
Every religous denomination has its own features 
clearly marked and firmly set. In every province, 
city, and town, we see the influence of association in 
the formation of character. It is illustrated in every 



FORMATION OP FEMALE CHARACTER. 319 

circle, from the kitchen of the maid- servant to the 
throne of the British queen. 

IMPARTATIVE AND RECEPTIVE ELEMENTS. 

All are conscious of a desire to imbne others with 
their sentiments. This ambition is always strong in 
a mind of high intensity. It is the natural yearning 
of active powers for appropriate activity — the mind's 
impulse to develope its energies and extend its 
dominion. Minds that burn with the fire of genius, 
or the nobler fires of zeal and love, cannot repress 
their energies ; but seek to distinguish themselves, 
and to influence those with whom they come in con- 
tact. There are magnetic souls that penetrate with 
their looks, and inspire with their ideas. In all ages 
and countries the gentler sex afford illustrations of a 
desire to impart themselves and mould others. 

What then are those elements, — those sources of 
power and strength which are the vital mainsprings 
in the formation of your character ? 

Imitation plays an important part in this great 
work. The same passion that impels you to seek 
society, impels you to take part with your companions 
in their interests and inclinations. Insensibly you 
fall into their customs and manners, adopt their 
sentiments, their passions, and even their foibles. 
This principle is especially active in children ; hence 
they love to mimic whatever strikes the organ of 
sense ; and soon as the young idea begins to shoot, 
and the embryo of the character to appear, they form 
themselves unconsciously after the similitude of those 
with whom they converse. But for this their progress 



320 MODEL WOMEN. 

would be very slow, and their conformity to persons 
and things around them very slight. With this 
faculty spontaneously active, how soon they learn to 
talk, to adopt the peculiarities of others, and copy the 
mechanical and other inventions ! Now, women are 
but children of larger growth, and are mightily influ- 
enced by imitation. Follow, therefore, the example 
of good women. As the moral virtues constitute the 
highest order of human excellence and endowment, 
copy them wherever you find them. Theatricals are 
the legitimate product of imitation. Shall they be 
patronized? Undoubtedly they might be so con- 
ducted as to become a great public blessing ; but as 
they are at present managed, they are undoubtedly a 
great curse. Still, those who deplore the influence of 
the theatre should labour to correct it, rather than 
seek to demolish it altogether ; for it is founded on a 
natural element of the human mind, and must live as 
long as humanity exists. Destroyed it can never be, 
any more than hunger or any other natural or legiti- 
mate product of any other faculty. All that remains 
is to sanctify and rightly wield its mighty power for 
good. Nevertheless, we must express our unequivocal 
disapproval of the theatre as now conducted, and 
warn you especially against it. 

There is in human nature a strong tendency to 
sympathise with others in their modes of thought 
and feeling. All know something about the readiness 
with which the act of yawning is induced in a com- 
pany if a single person begins to yawn ; the facility 
with which hysterical convulsions are induced in a 
female hospital ward by a single case ; the fascination 
of its prey by the serpent, apparently by the power of 



FORMATION OF FEMALE CHARACTER. 321 

the eyes ; the similar power exerted by so-called 
electro-biologists and mesmerists, and by which some 
can control even the fiercest carnivora. Sympathy is 
a mighty power, and may aid you mightily in the 
formation of your character. In no country is it 
more deeply felt than our own, where a free press, 
free speech, and free association, are in full operation. 
Just as matter has a tendency to conform to the tem- 
perature of surrounding matter, so mind has a ten- 
dency to cool or kindle with surrounding minds. An 
effort to benefit others operates beneficially upon those 
who put it forth ; thus proving that people cannot be 
made a blessing to others without enjoying an enlarged 
blessing themselves. The great events of life, which 
stir the deepest feelings of the human heart — birth, 
marriage, death — occur in every household, lighting 
up with a common joy, or involving in the shadow of 
a common gloom, the palace and the cottage alike. 
" One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." 
How near does our beloved queen seem to be to the 
poorest widow- in the land, now that, amid all the 
pomp of her royalty and the splendour of her un- 
rivalled station, she is suffering from, the painful sense 
of her great bereavement. Moreover, the heart of the 
country at once thrills with sympathy when tidings 
are heard of some great disaster, that has brought 
death to many, and desolation and misery to more ; 
though they may be the poorest of the poor, and 
dwellers in some far-off land. It is not more true, 
however, that we weep with those who weep, than 
that we rejoice with those who rejoice. There is a 
charm in general gladness that steals upon us without 
our perceiving it ; and if we have no cause of sorrow, 

Y 



322 MODEL WOMEN. 

it is sufficient for our momentary happiness that we 
be in the company of the happy. 

We would now direct your attention to habit — one 
of the most obvious and important elements in the 
formation of character. Its influence is felt in every 
sphere of your activity, its power extends to every 
faculty of your nature, and affects your personal, 
social, civil, and religious thought, feeling, and con- 
duct. The nature of habit may be considered in two 
lights : first, an ease and excellence in doing a thing 
from having done it frequently ; and secondly, a dis- 
position to perform certain actions in the same way as 
you have done them before. Habit is thus the specific 
law of repetition. Dr. Reid explains the law of asso- 
ciation by that of habit, and thus ascribes the effect of 
habit to a peculiar ultimate principle of the mind. 
He says, " That the trains of thinking, which, by fre- 
quent repetition, have become familiar, should spon- 
taneously offer themselves to our fancy, seems to re- 
quire no other original quality but the power of 
habit." To this error, which others have fallen into, 
Sir W. Hamilton's reply is unanswerable : " We can 
as well explain habit by association, as association by 
habit." The first form of the influence of habit, then, 
which we have to consider, is that by which it occa- 
sions greater facility and skill in the performance of 
particular actions. In the lower animals, habits arise 
from the force of mere instinct, and, properly speaking, 
are not acquired by repetition. The bee builds its 
first cell, and gathers honey from the first flower, as 
easily and as well as at any future period. The bird 
selects the same material for its first nest that it 
selects for its last, and constructs it in the same sort 



FORMATION OF FEMALE CHARACTER. 323 

of place, and of the same shape ; and all as perfectly 
and easily the first time as ever afterwards. The 
beaver fells his first tree, and makes his first dam, 
with as little difficulty and as much skill as in any 
after period of his life. You have much more of reascn 
than of instinct, and consequently acquire habits by 
repetition. Having chosen a certain course of action, 
you find that as you proceed you get on better, and 
that what was at first difficult, in course of time 
becomes easy. The pianist, sweeping the keys of her 
instrument, and emitting melodious notes and melting 
harmony ; the rope-dancer, performing her wondrous 
feats, and keeping the exact point of equilibrium and 
graceful attitude, are illustrations — not so much of 
native talent, as of the degree to which habit may be 
developed. The second kind of influence which habit 
exercises, is a tendency to repeat the same actions 
under the same circumstances. Dr. Brown thus illus- 
trates the power of indulged habit : " In the corrup- 
tion of a great city, it is scarcely possible to look 
around, without perceiving some warning example of 
that blasting and deadening influence, before which, 
everything that was generous and benevolent in the 
heart has withered, while everything which was 
noxious has flourished with more rapid maturity j 
like those plants which can extend their roots, indeed, 
even in pure soil, and fling out a few leaves amid 
balmy airs and odours, but which burst out in all 
their luxuriance only from a soil that is fed with con- 
stant putrescency, and in an atmosphere which it is 
poison to inhale. It is not vice — not cold and insen- 
sible and contented vice, that has never known any 
better feelings — which we view with melancholy 

y 2 



324 MODEL WOMEN. 

regret. It is virtue — at least what was once virtue — 
that has yielded progressively and silently to an 
influence, scarcely perceived, till it has become the 
very thing it abhorred. Nothing can be more just 
than the picture of this sad progress described in 
the well-known lines of Pope : 

' Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, 
As, to be hated, needs but to be seen ; 
Yet, seen too oft, familiar with her face, 
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.' 

" In the slow progress of some insidious disease, 
which is scarcely regarded by its cheerful and un- 
conscious victim, it is mournful to mark the smile of 
gaiety as it plays over that very bloom, which is not 
the freshness of health, but the flushing of approach- 
ing mortality; amid studies, perhaps, just opening 
into intellectual excellence, and hopes and plans of 
generous ambition that are never to be fulfilled. But 
how much more painful is it to behold that equally 
insidious and far more desolating progress with 
which guilty passion steals upon the heart, when 
there is still sufficient virtue to feel remorse and to 
sigh at the remembrance of purer years, but not suffi- 
cient to throw off the guilt which is felt to be oppres- 
sive, and to return to that purity in which it would 
again, in its bitter moments, gladly take shelter, if 
only it had energy to vanquish the almost irresistible 
habits that would tear it back. 

« Crimes lead to greater crimes, and link so straight, 
What first was accident, at last is fate : 
The unhappy servant sinks into a slave, 
And virtue's last sad stragglings cannot save.' 



FORMATION OF FEMALE CHARACTER. 325 

" We must not conceive, however, that habit is 
powerful only in strengthening what is evil — though 
it is this sort of operation which, of course, forces 
itself more upon our observation and memory, like 
the noontide darkness of the tempest, that is remem- 
bered when the calm and the sunshine and the gentle 
shower are forgotten. There can be no question that 
the same principle which confirms and aggravates 
what is evil, strengthens and cherishes also what is 
good. The virtuous, indeed, do not require the influ- 
ence of habitual benevolence or devotion to force 
them, as it were, to new acts of kindness to man, or 
to new sentiments of gratitude to God. But the 
temptations to which even virtue might sometimes be 
in danger of yielding, in the commencement of its 
delightful progress, become powerless and free from 
peril when that progress is more advanced. There 
are spirits which, even on earth, are elevated above 
that little scene of mortal ambition with which their 
benevolent wishes for the sufferers there are the single 
tie that connects them still. All with them is se- 
renity ; the darkness and the storm are beneath them. 
They have only to look down with generous sym- 
pathy on those who have not yet risen so high ; and 
to look up with gratitude to that heaven which is 
above their head, and which is almost opening to re- 
ceive them." You must form habits of one kind or 
another ; but you can choose what your habits are to 
be. We rejoice that at the present time there is 
much to cheer and encourage. Reformatories, the 
extension of education among the lower classes, 
Sunday schools, cheap and healthy literature, interest- 
ing lectures on instructive themes addressed to the 



326 MODEL WOMEN. 

million — all these are centres whence radiate powerful 
aids to the formation of great and noble character. 

TWOFOLD OPERATION OF MIND. 

The incontestable, although inexplicable, deliver- 
ance of consciousness is, that there are two great 
movements which take place within the mind — the 
one spontaneous, and the other reflex ; the one move- 
ment prompted only by the native activity of the 
mind itself, and the other the movement of the will. 
Now, those who push their phrenology into material- 
ism, having discovered that the tendencies to peculiar 
modes of thought and peculiar modes of action are 
to some extent dependent upon bodily organization, 
are not slow to tell us that their characters are formed 
for them, not by them. But this reasoning completely 
overlooks the fact that they have got a rational will, 
armed with complete power to control and regulate 
these tendencies ; therefore it is altogether illogical. 
Even were we to admit that the mental spontaneity is 
directly influenced by the bodily organization, the 
asserted consequence would by no means follow. For 
just as the farmer can plough and sow and harrow, and 
thus subordinate the spontaneity of nature, and direct 
that power into the useful channel of producing food, 
instead of the useless channel of producing briers and 
thorns, so you can modify, control, and regulate the 
spontaneity of the mind. Experience teaches you 
that you can break the threads of the web of thought, 
arrest the procession of the grand and beautiful, and 
throw discord into harmony : and where power exists, 
there exists responsibility. 



FORMATION OF FEMALE CHARACTER. 327 

We say, then, that in the concession we have made 
of a spontaneity directly influenced by material or- 
ganization, there is no proof whatever that you are 
not accountable both for your belief and your actions ; 
because consciousness teaches you that above and 
beyond every such influence there presides reason, 
and there exists a will. This important subject is 
most admirably discussed in a small pamphlet by 
Professor Martin, of Aberdeen, entitled, " Creed and 
Circumstance.' ' To adopt the well-chosen words of 
the professor : " May the day soon come when it shall 
be deemed of as great importance to the wellbeing of 
society that the laws of that chemistry, of which the 
human mind is the laboratory, shall be the subject of 
instruction, as the laws of that other chemistry whose 
laboratory is the world. Enough, however, is it for 
us at present, that in the domain, both of the mate- 
rial and the mental, there is ample scope for the 
highest energies and the most enlightened reason.' ' 

It is peculiarly desirable that this subject be insisted 
upon. The work of individual self-formation is a duty 
not only to yourselves and your immediate relations, 
but to your fellow- creatures at large. On the use 
you make of your early energies ; the conduct of your 
intellect, when it is capable of the most vigorous 
action ; the discipline of your heart, when it is sus- 
ceptible of the most lively impressions, will mainly 
depend what you shall henceforth be. This will 
involve much sacrifice, yea, lifelong struggle ; yet we 
venture to press the demand. Should you never rise 
higher in society, you have already gained an honoured 
and holy position. You carry with you a blessed 
charm to lighten toil, to assuage affliction, to purify 



328 MODEL WOMEN. 

attachment, to conquer death. You have, trained 
yourself in the way in which you should go, and when 
you are old you will not depart from it. Sisters, 
have you courage for the conflict ? For in the 
Divine order, fighting precedes victory, and labour 
goes before reward. 

" 'Tis first the true, and then the beautiful ; 
Not first the beautiful, and then the true ; 
First the wild moor, with rock and reed and pool ; 
Then the gay garden, rich in scent and hue. 

'Tis first the good, and then the beautiful ; 

Not first the beautiful, and then the good ; 
First the rough seed, sown in the rougher soil, 

Then the flower-blossorn, and the branching wood. 

Not first the glad, and then the sorrowful ; 

But first the sorrowful, and then the glad ; 
Tears for a day — for earth of tears is full — 

Then we forget that we were ever sad. 

'Tis first the fight, and then the victory; 

Not first the victory, and then the fight ; 
The long dark night, and then the dawning day, 

"Which ushers in the everlasting light." 



CHAPTER IX. 



11 Without intending a silly compliment, I think I may say, if 
you look at the two sexes and ask which is the best product, and 
does the most credit to its own training, he would be a bold per- 
son who would say it was the male sex." 

Professor Seeley. 



DIFFERENCE AND SIMILARITY. 

Whethee woman's powers are equal to those of 
man seems to us hardly to admit of discussion. The 
proper question is not one of equality but of adapta- 
tion. In the very nature of things, between the two 
sexes there is a difference as well as a similarity. It 
was not good for man to be alone, therefore God pro- 
vided an help meet for him. The one sex is the com- 
pliment of the other. " Man and woman,' 3 to adopt 
the language of Dr. Craik, " are fitted the one for the 
other as much by their difference as by their simi- 
larity. The parts which they have to act, the spheres 
in which they have to move, are as distinct in some 
respects as they are identical. Of all false social 
philosophies, that is the blindest and shallowest which 
overlooks or denies this, and would seek to improve 
the character or elevate the condition of women by 
making them, as far as possible, exchange their own 
proper character for that of the other sex." The 
functions, the occupations, and consequent duties of 



330 MODEL WOMEN. 

man and woman grow out of their bodily and mental 
structures. Each sex is perfect for its purpose ; and 
when the one encroaches on the other, inferiority, 
incongruity, and antagonism is the result. What 
so odious as a masculine woman ? What so con- 
temptible as a feminine man ? Alas ! both are fre- 
quently met in the world. 

Woman's claim to entire equality with man cannot 
on any pretence be made to rest on the word of God. 
Some writers beg the question, and insist that woman 
should be treated by man as she is by God : in all 
respects equal. But the Scriptures do not teach that 
the sexes are in all respects equal ; nor from the 
earliest ages, down to the hour when John laid by 
the pen, and closed the book, is there the slightest 
intimation that the two sexes may not have peculiar 
privileges and duties. By declaring the essential 
unity of the sexes, the Bible bestows supreme honour 
upon woman, while shedding a dew, tender as the 
blessing of God upon her affectional nature. In mat- 
ters of conscience there is no sex ; consequently in the 
discharge of the duties of piety each is equally capaci- 
tated, and therefore equally responsible. Love on the 
part of husbands is made as binding as obedience on 
the part of wives ; and where love rules, instead of 
heartless ministrations, there are affectionate assi- 
duities, ingenious anticipation of wishes, and noble 
self-sacrifices. 

Woman is certainly not inferior to man, but the 
difference between them is as evident as the simi- 
larity ; and only by carrying out their joint action in 
accordance with their inherent powers and suscep- 
tibilities can the human race really be benefited. It 



NATURAL EQUALITY OF THE SEXES. 331 

is only a waste of time to tell us tliat woman can do 
many things quite as well as man can, — that there 
are many public occupations which she could fill as 
well as he, — that were she properly educated, it would 
be seen that man had no natural superiority over her 
except in physical strength. All that may be true. 
Our argument is, that while woman, in consequence 
of her more pliable nature, may be able to do man's 
work as well as he can, it is certain that he cannot do 
her work so well as she can ; and therefore the body 
politic would suffer loss were the sexes generally to 
exchange places. 

POLITICAL EQUALITY. 

The question of the proper position of woman in 
regard to politics has become one of general interest. 
It lies in our way, and demands to be dealt with. 
We cannot now ridicule the idea of putting legal 
power into her hands, and as little can we discuss it 
superficially, for that were all the same as to discuss 
it unfaithfully. It is therefore matter of congratula- 
tion that John Stuart Mill, one cf the intellectual 
elite, alike as a metaphysician, a logician, a moralist, 
and a politician, has taken up this subject, and carried 
his inquiry into somewhat wider and deeper relations 
than men in general, or even women, with a few 
exceptions, have been accustomed to regard it as 
involving. Several years ago, when acknowledging 
a vote of thanks from the reformers of York, Mr. 
Mill, M.P., took the opportunity of showing them the 
legitimate consequences of one of the principles which 
they had laid down in public resolutions. " It is un- 



332 



MODEL WOMEN. 



just," they had maintained, " that the great bulk of 
the nation should be held amenable to laws in the 
making of which they had no voice." Mark the in- 
ference of the great thinker from this proposition. 
" It cannot stop at residential manhood suffrage ; but 
requires that the suffrage be extended to women 
also : " and then he adds, "I earnestly hope that the 
working men of England will show the sincerity of 
their principles by being willing to carry them out, 
when urged, in favour of others besides themselves." 
This logical deduction reminds us of Ann Knight's 
retort upon the late Joseph Sturge. Happening to 
meet that excellent man at a time when his name 
was prominently before the public in connection with 
the demand for "complete suffrage," she thus accosted 
him : " Friend Joseph, art thou aware of thine incon- 
sistency ? Thou talkest of complete suffrage. Canst 
thou be thinking of what the words imply ? Dost 
thou not know that women are more numerous in 
our nation than men?" "Yes, friend Ann," he an- 
swered; "I believe thou art right." "Well, then, 
friend Joseph," she replied, " how can the suffrage 
be complete when withheld from the larger portion 
of the community ? " Friend Joseph was obliged to 
own himself beaten ; and this amusing colloquy led 
to the substitution of " manhood " for " complete " in 
the suffrage programme of Mr. Sturge and the Reform 
party which he then led. 

In asking, in sober form and phrase, for the enfran- 
chisement of women, the late member for Westmin- 
ster, is quite aware of the difficulties of his position. 
In every respect the burden is hard on those who 
attack an old and deeply rooted opinion. The com- 



NATURAL EQUALITY OF THE SEXES. 333 

mon rules of evidence will not benefit them. In his 
recent work on the " Subjection of Women," Mr. 
Mill says : — " It is useless for me to say that those 
who maintain the doctrine that men have a right to 
command, and women are under an obligation to obey ; 
or that men are fit for government and women unfit ; 
are on the affirmative side of the question, and that 
they are bound to show positive evidence for the as- 
sertions, or submit to their rejection. It is equally 
unavailing for me to say that those who deny to 
women any freedom or privilege rightly allowed to 
men, having the double presumption against them 
that they are opposing freedom and recommending 
partiality, must be held to the strictest proof of their 
case ; and unless their success be such as to exclude 
all doubt, the judgment ought to be against them. 
These would be thought good pleas in any common 
case, but they will not be thought so in this instance. 
Before I could hope to make any impression, I should 
be expected not only to answer all that has ever been 
said by those who take the other side of the question, 
but to imagine all that could be said by them — to find 
them in reasons, as well as answer all I find ; and be- 
sides refuting all arguments for the affirmative, I shall 
be called upon for invincible positive arguments to 
prove a negative." Many views expressed in this 
volume lie far apart from the thinking of ordinary 
intellects^ but they must become familiar before life 
can be purified at its fountain. Is it creditable to 
English justice that women should be classed for 
electoral purposes with idiots, lunatics, and criminals ? 
Nay, women are placed lower than the latter ; for the 
House of Commons has deliberately resolved not to 



334 MODEL WOMEN. 

disfranchise felons permanently, on the ground that a 
citizen ought not to bear for life the brand of political 
disqualification. The principle which we so often 
hear enunciated iu the epigrammatic form " that taxa- 
tion and representation should be co-extensive,' ' 
logically covers the claim of women to be represented. 
All history teaches that women must have votes, in 
order to protect their own interests. In the words of 
Lord Macaulay : " Even in those countries where they 
are best treated, the laws are generally unfavourable 
to them, with respect to almost all the points in which 
they are the most deeply interested." Lord Brougham 
said : " There must be a total reconstruction of the 
law, before women can have justice.' ' But we are 
told that the worst evils from which women suffer 
cannot be cured by legislation. Government can cer- 
tainly give them the equal heritage, protection, and 
bequest of property; it can give them a Christian 
marriage law, instead of visiting matrimony with the 
same punishment as high treason — namely, confisca- 
tion ; it can throw open to them the existing universi- 
ties, or endow others to give them the high education 
that men value ; it can restore to them the schools 
and institutions destined by their founders for girls as 
well as boys, but which are now used for boys only; 
it can distribute the public funds equally for the good 
of both sexes ; it can make restrictions on the pro- 
ductiveness of female labour illegal. Concerning the 
evils which legislation cannot cure, women are making 
no public complaint. 

The objections to female suffrage are various. In 
an article in the Times, it is said : " There exists, as it 
were, a tacit concordat guaranteeing to the weaker 



NATUEAL EQUALITY OF THE SEXES. 335 

sex the protection and deference of the stronger, npon 
one condition only : that condition is the political 
dependence of women." Now, we admit that women 
have no physical power to enforce the suffrage ; and 
if the state is to be measured by might, they will 
occupy the bottom of the scale. But the rights of 
women do not depend upon their physical strength, 
but flow from the prevailing sense of justice; and 
justice means that the interests of women be consulted 
with as much impartiality as the interests of men. 
Another objection to the enfranchisement of women 
is, that politics would withdraw them from their pro- 
per duties. This apprehension is not well founded. 
It is quite possible to unite an interest in politics 
with attention to a family. In our free churches 
women vote equally with men, and this privilege has 
largely contributed to the success of the voluntary 
system. Moreover, women, if they have the same 
qualifications as men, have votes at municipal elec- 
tions. We are almost ashamed to refer to the stock 
arguments upon this subject. They are about as 
weighty as those recently employed against the en- 
franchisement of the working classes. Women, in 
general, may know less of politics than men; but 
educated women are surely not far behind many of 
the new voters in political knowledge. We all know 
hundreds of women who are far more competent to 
exercise the franchise than thousands already on the 
register. Those who oppose the concession of the 
suffrage to women, are astonishingly inconsistent. 
In one sentence they speak of the difference of sex as 
something which ought to exclude them from any 
Bhare in the political workings of the world — some- 



336 MODEL WOMEN. 

thing affecting all their thoughts and impulses and 
actions, and making it right to keep votes from them 
simply on the ground that they are women. In 
another sentence we are told that this accident of sex 
affects the female nature and career so lightly, that if 
they were permitted to go to the polling booth they 
would become unsexed. Now, whether either or 
neither of these positions be tenable, we submit that 
it is impossible to sustain them both, and we believe 
that neither is true. It is said that the claim of 
political action argues capacity for civil duty, ability 
to serve the state in the jury-box, in the police, in the 
camp, in the battle-fields, in port-surveys and defences, 
and in a routine of official duties that suffer no inter- 
mission. But the state does not compel men to fulfil 
personally its demands on civil organization ; it hires 
men for these purposes, and women contribute as well 
as men to the exchequer for their payment. 

It is said, however, that women have not cared in 
the past, and do not now care for political equality. 
Have they ever been consulted ? A large number 
believe that there is historical evidence that women 
have voted at parliamentary elections, both in coun- 
ties and boroughs, and are striving to return to the 
ancient constitutional practice of Great Britain. They 
have been too wise to keep perpetually dwelling on 
an inquiry which, until lately, seemed utterly hopeless 
of redress ; and too proud and sensitive to betray the 
existence of a feeling which only exposed them to the 
sneers and ridicule of the unthinking. But as soon 
as the House of Commons showed signs of admitting 
them within the pale of the constitution, the women 
of Great Britain began to prove that they did care 



NATUEAL EQUALITY OP THE SEXES. 337 

for their political rights. Recently, a petition from 
Edinburgh in favour of women's suffrage was pre- 
sented by Mr. McLaren, signed by upwards of 800 
female householders. A supplementary petition, fol- 
lowed soon after to the same effect, signed by eight 
university professors, six doctors of law, eighteen 
clergymen, eight barristers, ten physicians, ten officers 
in the army and navy, and upwards of 2000 other 
inhabitants. Colonel Sykes also presented 185 peti- 
tions from independent women in Aberdeen. A peti- 
tion adopted by a public meeting held in Aberdeen, 
and signed by Professor Bain as chairman, was also 
transmitted to the Prime Minister, the Lord Advocate, 
and the members for the city and county of Aberdeen ; 
praying the Honourable the Commons of the United 
Kingdom, to pass the bill entitled, " A Bill to Remove 
the Electoral Disabilities of Women." In 1867, 
3000 women of Manchester and the surrounding 
districts signed a petition asking for the franchise. 
On the evening of the 14th of April, 1868, a meeting 
in connection with the National Society for Women's 
Suffrage, was held in the same city, in the assembly 
room of the Free-trade Hall, the Mayor of Salford 
presiding. On the platform were a number of ladies, 
whose appearance was the signal for loud and repeated 
applause. Several of the most prominent leaders of 
the Reform party were similarly welcomed. Letters 
containing expressions of regret at the inability of the 
writers to attend the meeting, and of sympathy with 
its objects, were received from many eminent men 
and women. A number of women possessing the 
requisite qualifications have claimed their place on 
the register ; and the question was tried in November, 

z 



338 MODEL WOMEN. 

1868, in banquo, at Westminster, by the Court of 
Common Pleas. The judges decided against them; 
but they resolved that in 1869, a petition should be 
presented from every important town in England and 
Wales, praying for an alteration of the present law ; 
and Lady Amberley, Mrs. Fawcett, Miss Becker, Miss 
Faithful, and Miss Taylour, intend to continue their 
lectures on the electoral disabilities of their sex, till 
the British people be a nation of free women as well 
as of free men. 

Mr. Mill's motion for the bestowal of the franchise 
upon women occasioned a good deal of silly gig- 
gling :— 

" Fools have still an itching to deride, 
And fain would be upon the laughing side." 

But it seldom happens that a really able man makes 
a proposal that is entirely devoid of sense and reason ; 
and we are glad that a minority of seventy-three were 
found in the House gallant enough to vote for the 
motion. The member for Westminster did not ask a 
vote for any woman whose legal personality was even 
partially merged in that of another. Neither married 
women, whose husbands are in life, nor domestic ser- 
vants, would be admitted by him to the franchise. 
But if a woman is a householder, managing her own 
affairs, paying her way, liable to every tax, and fault- 
less in every civil capacity ; where is the person of 
intelligence who will dare to pronounce Mr. Mill's 
proposal absurd ? On the 4th of May, 1870, Mr. 
Jacob Bright moved the second reading of the bill 
for the enfranchisement of women, and adduced his 
best arguments to prove that widows and spinsters 
should have votes. By a majority of thirty- three 



NATURAL EQUALITY OF THE SEXES. 339 

votes, in a house of 215 members, the women carried 
the day ; and the bill was read a second time amid 
loud cheers. This in future will be an important 
subject between constituencies and candidates; and 
we have little doubt that in the course of a few years 
the British parliament will know nothing of the dis- 
tinctions of strong and weak, male and female, rich 
and poor. Why should women be excluded by law 
from doing the very things for which they are pecu- 
liarly qualified ? Had Queen Elizabeth and Queen 
Victoria not inherited theihrone, they could not have 
been entrusted with the smallest political duties ! 
The former was one of the most eminent rulers of 
mankind ; and the vocation of the latter for govern- 
ment has made its way, and become conspicuous. 
Happy will be the day in our country — happy will be 
the day throughout the world — when woman stands 
in this respect, as well as in others, a help meet for 
man ! 



SOCIAL EQUALITY. 

God has planted in every breast a passion for con- 
genial society, and made its wholesome play essential 
for the fulness of happiness ; but depraved passions 
have rendered the claims and duties of both sexes 
ambiguous, and disarranged the harmonies of the 
first creation. As society becomes corrupt, power 
assumes authority over weakness ; and they who 
ought to help, begin to hinder. Upon this principle 
women have been held in a state of social degrada- 
tion in all countries in which Christianity has been 
wholly unknown. The Egyptians decreed it to be 

z 2 



340 MODEL WOMEN. 

indecent in women to go abroad without shoes, and 
threatened with death any one who should make 
shoes for them. Among Celtic nations, the la- 
bours of the field, as well as domestic toil, devolved 
on the women; which evidently originated in the 
general impression of their inferiority in the scale of 
existence. The domestic life of the Greeks exhibit 
unquestionable evidences of barbarity in the treat- 
ment of women. At no time were they entrusted 
with any knowledge of their husbands' affairs, and 
they were totally excluded from mixed society. Ac- 
cording to the laws of the Romans, the wife was in 
servitude ; though she had in name the rights of a 
citizen. In savage, superstitious, and Mahometan 
countries, the condition of females justifies the ex- 
clamation of an ancient philosopher, who thanked 
God that lie was horn a man and not a woman. 

It is evident that the social condition of women, 
destitute of the light of revelation, is inferior to that 
of men. But under the influence of even a precursory 
and imperfect system of the true religion, their glory 
emerges partially to view. Still under the Jewish 
theocracy, the Levitical law appointed a variety of 
regulations which evinced their imperfect emancipa- 
tion from social inferiority. Polygamy and concu- 
binage prevailed even in pious families in these olden 
times. The doctrine of vows, also, in the case of 
daughters, wives, and widows, proves the subordina- 
tion of the female sex. It is Christianity that has 
raised women above the state of barbaric degradation, 
Mahometan slavery, and Jewish subjection, and as- 
signed to them their proper place in society. 

While the religion of Jesus elevates women to 



NATUKAL EQUALITY OF THE SEXES. 341 

great consideration in the social scale, it imposes a 
salutary restraint upon human passions, and checks 
every approach to the assumption of an unnatural 
superiority. Its principles allow neither the barbaric 
treatment of uncivilized nations, nor the follies of the 
chivalrous ages, The great principles of Christianity 
secure to women, as an unquestionable right, equality 
with men. " Let every one of you so love his wife as 
himself; and the wife see that she reverence her hus- 
band." Paley writes, " The manners of different 
countries have varied in nothing more than in their 
domestic constitutions. Less polished and more luxuri- 
ous nations have either not perceived the bad effects of 
polygamy ; or, if they did perceive them, they who in 
such countries possessed the power of reforming the 
laws, have been unwilling to resign their own gratifi- 
cation.' ' In all Christian countries, polygamy is 
universally prohibited ; and the marriage of a second 
wife during the lifetime of the first, is ranked with 
the most dangerous and cruel of those frauds by 
which a woman is cheated out of her fortune, her 
person, and her happiness. In the early days of the 
generation which is fast fading away from among us, 
as in that which immediately preceded it, we know 
that the education of women, if bestowed at all, was 
confined to the shallowest acquirements and the most 
superficial of accomplishments. In courtly circles, 
a few external graces, and a sufficient acquaintance 
with polite phraseology were enough to constitute the 
woman of refinement. That woman is slowly making 
her way into freer life is evinced by the fact that pro- 
fessed authorship does not involve loss of caste in 
society. Many widely known as writers, were placed 



342 MODEL WOMEN. 

in the genteel ranks of society by birth ; but are uni- 
versally regarded with increased respect, because they 
have enlarged their bounds of usefulness, to strengthen 
and refresh thousands of minds. 

INTELLECTUAL EQUALITY. 

Phrenologists affirm that the female head does not 
measure so much round as the male ; neither is it so 
wide, so high, nor so long. On the other hand, many 
authorities, English and foreign, say that the brains 
of women are larger than those of men in proportion 
to the size of their bodies, while their temperaments 
are more nervous and sensitive ; hence female mental 
inferiority would be a hasty generalization; for 
although the brain is the intellectual organ, size is 
not the only measure of power. Woman, like man, 
was created perfect ; but the powers of her mind are 
essentially different from those of man. The male 
intellect is logical and judicious, while that of the 
female is instructive and emotional. " They are one 
in the warp and woof of their mental nature ; but the 
interwoven threads are in bulk so differently propor- 
tioned in the two, that they differ very considerably 
in superficial colour and finish." The theory that the 
strong, or male mind, prefers the weak, or female 
mind, in its hours of leisure, is contradicted by 
experience. Poets, philosophers, and orators, prefer 
the fellowship of kindred souls. On the same prin- 
ciple, clever men naturally court the society of clever 
women. A creature of inferior mental powers would 
not be a help meet for man. 

Who have a better right to speak to this theme 



NATURAL EQUALITY OF THE SEXES. 343 

than teachers of youth ? Their vocation leads them 
to see boys and girls studying the same subjects, and 
they are pretty unanimous in their opinion that the 
memories, perceptions, and understandings of girls 
are quite equal to those of boys. Plato was of 
opinion that males had no superiority over females, 
except in physical strength. Dugald Stewart was of 
the same opinion, and ascribed the difference in the 
sexes to education. Several of the school inspectors 
in England and Scotland report that they found the 
capabilities of the girls as good in general as those 
of boys; that although part of the school-day was 
devoted rightfully to needlework, they made as much 
progress as lads of the same amount of training when 
taught by the same masters. Of the six ladies who 
attended the separate classes for women authorized 
by the university of Edinburgh, five were found in 
the prize list — one, Miss Pechey, received a bronze 
medal, and ought to have been a Hope scholar ; Miss 
Blake, got a first-class certificate of merit ; while Mrs. 
Masson, Mrs. ' Thorn, and Miss Chaplin, have certifi- 
cates of merits of second-class. The Aberdeen lady 
students' classes were organized late last year. The 
lecturers were Mr. M'Bain, formerly Assistant- Pro- 
fessor of Greek in the university, and Dr. Beveridge 
— both eminently qualified ; and the subjects under- 
taken, were English Literature and Chemistry, and 
Experimental Physics. From an address delivered 
by M. Krueger, we notice that eight ladies attended 
the first of these classes, and eleven the second, and 
that the students are highly spoken of alike for atten- 
tion and ability. The past session, especially seeing 
it may be regarded as merely experimental, having 



344 MODEL WOMEN. 

been thus successful, it is hoped that in future there 
will be a larger number of students, and that other 
subjects of study besides those already engaged in 
may get encouragement. We are informed that at 
the examination of Mr. M' Bain's class, Miss Sherar 
obtained the highest certificate. At the examinations 
of the Metropolitan University, females have demon- 
strated the possession of acquirements sufficient to 
procure them high honours at the elder seats of 
learning on the banks of the Isis and the Cam. 
These facts ought to make us pause before con- 
demning Sidney Smith for claiming, in the pages of 
the Edinburgh Review, perfect equality in mental 
endowment for women. " As long as boys and girls 
run about in the dirt and trundle hoops together, 
they are both precisely alike. If you catch up one- 
half of these creatures and train them to a particular 
set of actions and opinions, and the other half to a 
perfectly opposite set, of course their understandings 
will differ as one or the other sort of occupation has 
called this or that talent into action ; there is surely, 
therefore, no occasion to go into any deeper or more 
abstruse reasoning in order to explain so very simple 
a phenomenon." 

What is there in science, literature, or art, which 
the genius of woman cannot accomplish ? If we 
have had starry sons of science, we have had starry 
daughters too. ISTot only has woman lifted the 
telescope, but she has lifted the pen, and written 
treatises of great learning and originality. " The 
Mechanism of the Heavens " and " The Connection 
of the Physical Sciences," by Mrs. Somerville, would 
not have disgraced the pen of Sir Isaac Newton 



NATUEAL EQUALITY OF THE SEXES. 345 

We have had chemistry represented by Mrs. Marcet, 
and botany by Mrs. Loudon. Woman has risen to 
eminence in divinity. Miss Jane Taylor was 
thoroughly acquainted with that science. Medicine 
has had its female students. In early times, and also 
in the middle ages, female physicians and surgeons 
were as common as male ; and sometimes the patient 
got enamoured of his doctor : — 

" No art the poison could •withstand ; 
No medicine could be found, 
Till lovely Isolde's lily hand 
Had probed the rankling wound. 

With gentle hand and soothing tongue, 

She bore the leech's part ; 
And while she o'er his sick-bed hung, 

He paid her with his heart." 

Miss Garrett, finding that she could be admitted by 
the Society of Apothecaries to the medical profession, 
qualified herself for practice. But the society dis- 
covering that her example was likely to be contagious, 
at once shut the door. Miss Garrett is now an M.D. 
of the University of Paris. Nine ladies in New York 
and five in Boston have recently graduated at medical 
colleges as physicians. One of the professors of the 
New York College stated that there are in America 
300 women practising medicine whose professional 
incomes range at from 10,000 to 20,000 dollars per 
annum. The thorny science of the law has also been 
a female study. The Roman Hortensia, seems to have 
been rather an eloquent pleader than a consummate 
lawyer ; but several Italian women of the middle ages 
were renowned as jurists. Contrary to expectation, 
the mechanical and mathematical sciences are those 



316 MODEL WOMEN. 

in which woman has most distinguished herself. The 
least gallant of critics are now compelled to admit 
that female authorship has taken up a full and con- 
spicuous place in literature. If three hundred years 
ago, Ariosto could write with more than poetic truth, 
his well known stanzas commencing with the words — 

" Le donne sono venute in eccellenza, 
Di ciascun arte ove hanno posto cura" — 

with how much greater truth might the affirmative 
be repeated amidst the blaze of female talent, by 
which the present century is signalised ! Not to go 
beyond the limits of our own land, we have had deli- 
neations of life worthy of Cervantes and Le Sage, of 
Fielding and Smollett, but traced with faultless purity, 
from that great school of writers in which the names 
of Miss Edgeworth, Miss Austen, Mrs. Hall, Mrs. 
Gaskell, Mrs. Hamilton, Mrs. Oliphant, George Eliot, 
and Miss Mulock, are only some of the most con- 
spicuous. Joanna Bailey and Miss Mitford have 
given tragedies to the stage which would have gained 
a rich harvest of golden opinions in the days of 
Massinger and Ford. In lyric poetry, we have Miss 
Landon, the Hon. Mrs. Norton, and Mary Howitt. Miss 
Martineau has made the most practical and unimagi- 
native of studies, political economy, as attractive as 
the most interesting fictions of romance. In art, 
woman holds a distinguished place. She can dip her 
pencil in hues borrowed from the rainbow, and trans- 
fer her genius to canvas. The master works of 
Landseer are more than rivalled by Rosa Bonheur ; 
and Mrs. Jameson is the best art-critic England has 
ever produced. Till recently, women could be 



NATURAL EQUALITY OF THE SEXES. 347 

Associates of the Royal Academy; but they were 
distinguishing themselves, and to the burning dis- 
grace of the Academy, the privilege was taken froin. 
them. Do the Academicians know of what sex were 
the Muses and the Graces ? 

"Woman sister/' says Thomas de Quincey, "there 
are some things which you do not execute as well as 
your brother man. No, nor never will. Pardon me, 
if I doubt whether you will ever produce a great poet 
from your choirs, or a Mozart, or a Phidias, or a 
Michael Angelo, or a great philosopher, or a great 
scholar. By which last is meant, not one who 
depends simply on an infinite memory, but also on 
an infinite and electrical power of combination; 
bringing together from the four winds, like the angel 
of the resurrection, what else were dust from dead 
men's bones, into the unity of breathing life. If you 
can create yourselves into any of these great creators, 
why have you not ? " 

This passage is not true. Whatever man may per- 
form, woman taken out of his side may equal. Right 
truly has Ebenezer Elliott, a sincere and energetic, if 
not graceful bard, sung : — 

" What highest prize hath woman won 

In science or in art ? 
What mightiest work by woman done 

Boasts city, field, or mart ? 
1 She hath no Raphael!' Painting saith ; 

1 No Newton ! ' Learning cries. 
' Show us her steamship ! her Macbeth ! 

Her thought-won victories ! ' 

Wait, boastful man ! though worthy are 
Thy deeds, when thou are true, 



348 MODEL WOMEN. 

Things worthier still, and holier far, 

Our sister yet will do ; 
For this the worth of woman shows 

On every peopled shore, 
That still as man in wisdom grows, 

He honours her the more. 

Oh, not for wealth, or fame, or power, 

Hath man's meek angel striven ; 
But, silent as the growing flower, 

To make of earth a heaven ! 
And in her garden of the sun, 

Heaven's brightest rose shall bloom ; 
For woman's best is unbegun, 

Her advent yet to come." 

Miss Becker, of Manchester, in a paper on some 
supposed differences in the minds of men and women, 
read before the British Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science, in Norwich, August 25, 1868, sub- 
mits the three following propositions : — " I. That the 
attribute of sex does not extend to mind : that there 
is no distinction between the intellects of men and 
women, corresponding to and dependent on the special 
organization of their bodies. II. That any broad 
marks of distinction which may at the present time 
be observed to exist between the minds of men and 
women collectively, are fairly traceable to the influ- 
ence of the different circumstances under which they 
pass their lives, and cannot be proved to adhere in 
each class, in virtue of sex. III. That in spite of the 
external circumstances which tend to cause divergence 
in the tone of mind, habits of thought, and opinions 
of men and women; it is a matter of fact that these do 
not differ more among persons of opposite sexes than 
they do among persons of the same ; that comparing 



NATURAL EQUALITY OF THE SEXES. 349 

any one man with any one woman, or any class of 
men with any class of women, the difference between 
their mental characteristics will not be greater than 
may be found between two individuals or classes, 
compared with others of the same sex." 



MORAL EQUALITY. 

The capacity for goodness is greater and nobler 
than the ability to acquire knowledge ; and it is almost 
universally admitted that woman is more largely 
endowed with the lofty moral sense and the generous 
affection from which all true greatness springs, than 
man. Intellectual glory cannot compare with the 
moral halo that gilds the following picture : " Take 
a woman who is possessed of a large intellect, say — 
but intellect well disciplined, well stored — gifted with 
mind, and graced with its specific piety, whose chief 
delight it is to do kind deeds to those beloved. Her 
life is poured out like the fair light of heaven around 
the bedside of the sick ; she becomes like a last sacra- 
ment to the dying man, bringing back a reminiscence 
of the best things of mortal life, and giving a fore- 
tasted prophecy of the joys of heaven — her very 
presence an alabaster box of ointment exceeding 
precious, filling the house with its balm of a thousand 
flowers. Her love adorns the path in which she 
teaches youthful feet to tread, and blooms in ama- 
ranthine loveliness above the head laid low in earth. 
She would feel insulted by gratitude. God can give 
no greater joy to mortal men than the consciousness 
whence such a life wells out. Not content with 
blessing the few whom friendship joins to her, her 



350 MODEL WOMEN. 

love enlarges and runs over the side of the private 
cup, and fills the bowl of many a needy and forsaken 
one. Oh, in the presence of such affection as this, 
the intellect of Plato would be abashed, and say, — 
' Stand back, my soul, for here is something holier 
than thou. In sight of such excellence, I am ashamed 
of intellect ; I would not look upon the greatest that 
ever spoke to ages yet unborn.' " 

We cannot but feel that the eloquent author was 
right in making the embodiment of such goodness a 
woman; for under all conditions, from the lowest 
barbarism to the highest civilization, her sense of 
right is conspicuous, and her generous affection is 
proverbial. Both in Latin and Greek almost every 
moral excellence is expressed by nouns in the feminine 
gender. Virtus, Sophia, Fides, Justitia, and Charitas, 
are examples. Some are of opinion that there was 
much philosophy in the mythology of the ancients ; 
but, be this as it may, it is certain that in nearly all 
languages the virtues, when personified, are spoken 
of in the feminine gender; intimating that the 
nature of woman is pre-eminently adapted for their 
exemplification. 

" Perhaps," says William M'Combie, in his " Hours 
of Thought," "if we would see moral elevation apart, 
as far as possible, from all earthly excitements, we 
must leave the halls of riches, and the possessors of 
high intellectual endowments, and enter the dwelling 
of the lonely female of threescore years and ten, whose 
' acquaintances ' have gone down into ' darkness,' — 
who has outlived all that were dearest to her heart on 
earth. We shall, perhaps, find her sitting in a corner 
of her confined apartment, scarcely visible amidst 



NATURAL EQUALITY OF THE SEXES. 351 

smoke, distressed with disease, or suffering under 
acute pain, with only the literal ' bread ' and ' water/ 
which the word of God hath made sure. Yet the 
language of thankfulness is on her tongue, and her 
countenance brightens with contentment as if lighted 
by a ray from heaven ; the withdrawment of earthly 
comforts and cares seem to have opened a wider 
entrance for the heavenly consolation ; and her dis- 
tresses and her pains only impel her forward in her 
journey to the celestial city. In the want of earthly 
associates, she enjoys more intimate communion with 
her God, and the ineffably animating language of the 
Saviour has become, as it were, an element of her 
mind/' " These things have I spoken unto you, that 
in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall 
have tribulation, but be of good cheer ; I have 
overcome the world." 

RELIGIOUS EQUALITY. 

The capacity for religion is the highest part of 
human nature, and the qualities which constitute 
religion, the noblest which it is possible to cultivate. 
If the choice were possible, that to-morrow every 
woman and maiden should become worthy of being 
associated with those splendid intellects, some few 
score of which have done the main part of the work 
of thinking for the rest of the world ; or else should 
become unchangeably and fearlessly religious, — would 
any true and wise lover of his country for a moment 
hesitate to choose the latter ? Can there be any doubt 
which would contribute most to the happiness, and in 
the end, to the honour, greatness, and security of the 
world. 



352 MODEL WOMEN. 

In the most explicit terms, the sacred writers affirm 
that neither the male nor the female have any peculiar 
claims or advantages in regard to religion. Both 
sexes are alike sinners, and are alike saved by grace. 
Christianity smites pride to the dust, by proclaiming 
that the human family have a common origin, and 
esteems them all to be equal in the matter of salva- 
tion. At the foot of the Cross, at the communion 
table, and in heaven, there is neither male nor female. 
The personal conduct of the Divine author of Chris- 
tianity tended to elevate the female sex to a degree of 
consideration in society unknown before. Jesus was 
present at the marriage of Cana of Galilee, conversed 
with the Samaritan woman, and in some of his most 
illustrious miracles females were personally concerned. 
He mingled his tears with those of Martha and Mary, 
restored their brother to their affections, and gave 
the widow of Nain back her son. The conduct of 
Christ naturally induced His disciples to imitate His 
example ; and the subsequent admission of women to 
all the privileges of the Christian Church, tended 
mightily to confirm their elevation and evince their 
importance in society. Women ministered to the 
Saviour in the days of His humiliation ; and when one 
professed friend denied Him, and another betrayed 
Him, and all forsook Him and fled, their fidelity was 
never impeached. They were the last at the cross — 
they were the first at the sepulchre. Through all 
succeeding ages, they have been conspicuous for their 
works of charity and their labours of love, — through 
all the phases of persecution the women have suffered 
for their religious faith like the men ; and it has been 
remarked that no woman ever put forward her sex as 



NATURAL EQUALITY OF THE SEXES. 353 

a reason for being spared. The congregations and 
churches of the present day testify how well women 
have understood their privileges. 

Religion, indeed, in itself is venerable ; but it must 
be attractive in order to be influential; and it is 
impossible to tell how great might be the benefit to 
society, if the personal loveliness, versatile powers, 
and lively fancy so lavishly bestowed upon woman 
were conscientiously employed on its behalf. Right 
truly has James Russell Lowell, one of the most 
original poets America has yet produced, sung : — 

" The deep religion of a thankful heart, 

Which rests instinctively in heaven's law, 
With a full peace that never can depart 

From its own steadfastness ; a holy awe 
For holy things — not those which men call holy, 

But such as are revealed to the eyes 
Of a true woman's soul hent down and lowly 

Before the face of daily mysteries; 
A love that blossoms soon, but ripens slowly 

To the full goldenness of fruitful prime, 
Enduring with a firmness that defies 

All shallow tricks of circumstance and time ; 
By a sure insight knowing where to cling, 
And where it clingeth never withering." 



Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London. 

A A 



WORKS BY WILLIAM ANDERSON. 



SELF-MADE MEN. Fourth and Cheap Edition, 

crown 8vo, price 3s. 6d. 

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"The author's estimate of greatness is rightly founded on moral rather 
than on mere intellectual considerations. The standpoint is that of 
evangelical orthodoxy. The style that of a vigorous, self-reliant writer, 
able to seize characteristic features with success, and to present them in 
nervous and vivid English. The result is a book which will be heartily 
welcomed by many, especially heads of families, readers to a class, and 
Sunday School librarians."— Meliora. 

" Too much praise cannot be given to the author for clearness, pointed- 
ness, and force, as well as for his diligence in collecting facts, some of 
which have the interest of novelty besides the attraction of truthfulness. 
He writes in a genial, appreciative tone, and the book abounds in healthy 
moral sentiments, the outcomings of a pure Christian philosophy."— 
Christian World. 

" The ground surveyed by the author is very extensive, and the par- 
ticulars introduced innumerable. There will be general thankfulness for 
a work so eloquently written, and so greatly adapted for usefulness."— 
Christian Times. 

" The whole aspect and style of this volume is sure to commend it at 
once to a large class of readers. The way in which the author arranges 
his materials, and exhibits them to his readers, prevents dulness, and 
encourages perusal." — Christian Witness. 

" Mr. Anderson gives us a very good selection of those who may claim 
our reverence as the teachers of men."— Quiver. 



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